North Korean Leader Orders Execution Of Defence Minister Barely A Year After Feeding His Uncle To 120 Hungry Dogs

North Korea's defence minister has been executed by anti-aircraft weapons in front of an audience of hundreds, according to a South Korean intelligence report. Hyon Yong-chol was reportedly charged with treason for disobeying orders, falling asleep at a military event and being disloyal to Kim Jong-un, the latest in long line of purges carried out by the North Korean regime.  He was an unknown when he was promoted to the North Korean elite in 2012 and had been in his position for less than a year. However, he regularly accompanied Kim on public events. He was arrested late last month and executed three days later without trial.

As head of the country's military, Hyon was "as close to Kim Jong-un as it is possible to get," says the BBC's Stephen Evans. "Such a public and brutal method of execution as obliteration by anti-aircraft gun would emphasise the cost of disloyalty." This is not believed to be the first time an official has been publically executed in such an extreme manner. Last month, a human rights group released satellite images taken of heavy machine guns on a small arms firing range at an army training centre near Pyongyang in 2014. The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea said the "most plausible explanation" for the image was a "gruesome public execution" by anti-aircraft fire.

Earlier this week, South Korea's intelligence agency revealed the extent of political murders being carried out in Pyongyang, estimating that senior officials were being executed at a rate of one per week. "It all adds up to a picture of a leader in Pyongyang who feels very insecure and who is dangerous in his insecurity," says Evans. "Every time we hear rumours of more executions, we have to wonder whether it's a sign of authority or an inability to keep things under control," Victor Cha, former White House adviser on Asia under George W Bush, told the Financial Times. The most notable purge was of Kim's uncle and most senior advisor in 2013. Jang Song-thaek was executed on charges that ranged from distributing pornography to plotting a coup. He was also condemned for "half-hearted clapping" during a ceremony for his nephew.