North Korea's army chief of staff has been executed, South Korean media reported on Wednesday, in what would amount to the latest in a series of purges and executions of top officials by leader Kim Jong-Un.
Ri Yong-Gil, Chief of the Korean People's Army General Staff was executed earlier this month for forming a political faction and corruption, Yonhap news agency said, citing a source familiar with North Korean affairs.
The report came at a time of highly elevated tensions on the divided Korean peninsula following the North's recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. Ri was often seen accompanying Kim Jong-Un on inspection tours, but his name was conspicuously missing from state media reports of a recent major party meeting and celebrations over Sunday's rocket launch.
"The execution... Suggests that Kim Jong-Un still feels insecure about his grip on the country's powerful military... It shows that Kim's reign of terror still persists,” Yonhap quoted the source as saying.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) in Seoul declined to comment on the report.
In May last year the NIS said Kim had his defence chief, Hyon Yong-Chol, executed — reportedly with the use of an anti-aircraft gun.