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North Korea Executes Defense Chief, Says South Korea's Spy Agency

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A man watches a TV news program reporting that People's Armed Forces Minister Hyon Yong Chol was killed by anti-aircraft gunfire, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 13, 2015. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un executed his defense chief for sleeping during a meeting and talking back to the young leader, South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers Wednesday, citing what it called credible information. The part of letters on the bottom "Pyongyang, executed by anti-aircraft gunfire." (Lee Jin-man/AP)
A man watches a TV news program reporting that People's Armed Forces Minister Hyon Yong Chol was killed by anti-aircraft gunfire, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 13, 2015. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un executed his defense chief for sleeping during a meeting and talking back to the young leader, South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers Wednesday, citing what it called credible information. The part of letters on the bottom "Pyongyang, executed by anti-aircraft gunfire." (Lee Jin-man/AP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had his defense chief executed with an anti-aircraft gun for complaining about the young ruler, talking back to him and sleeping during a meeting presided over by Kim, South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers Wednesday, citing what it called credible information.

South Korean analysts are split on whether the alleged bloody purge signals strength or weakness from Kim Jong Un, who took power after his father's 2011 death. Some aren't even sure whether Seoul's occasionally unreliable spy agency got it right. One expert described the reported development, part of a series of high-profile recent purges and executions by Kim, as an attempt to orchestrate a "reign of terror" that would solidify his leadership.

National Intelligence Service officials told a closed-door parliamentary committee meeting that North Korean People's Armed Forces Minister Hyon Yong Chol was killed in front of hundreds of spectators at a shooting range at Pyongyang's Kang Kon Military Academy in late April, according to lawmaker Shin Kyoung-min, who attended the briefing.

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This segment aired on May 13, 2015.

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