North Korea said to execute its defence minister

The minister, Gen. Hyon Yong Chol, was believed to have been executed with an anti-aircraft gun in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, around April 30, officials from the National Intelligence Service told South Korean lawmakers during a closed parliamentary session.

Kim  considered Hyon disloyal after he dozed off during military events and second-guessed Kim's orders, the intelligence officials were quoted as saying.

Hyon, one of the most senior military officials in the secretive country, has disappeared from North Korea's state-run news media since late April.

The National Intelligence Service referred any queries from the news media to the two lawmakers, Lee Cheol Woo and Shin Kyoung Min.

Reports said It was not clear how the South Korean spy agency acquired information on Hyon's supposed execution. Last month, the agency told the parliamentary intelligence committee that North Korea had executed 15 high-ranking government officials, including two vice ministers, this year.

Information the spy agency has provided during closed parliamentary hearings has been considered reliable. But analysts also cautioned that gathering verifiable data on the inner workings of the North Korean government is difficult.

In 2013, an uncle of Kim's, Jang Song Thaek, long considered the second most powerful man in North Korea, was executed after being accused of stealing state funds and plotting to overthrow Kim.