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North Korea executes defence chief for sleeping during meeting

Hyon Yong Chol was killed by anti-aircraft gunfire with hundreds watching at a shooting range.

Updated - September 02, 2016 01:24 pm IST - SEOUL

North Korean defence chief Hyon Yong Chol.

North Korean defence chief Hyon Yong Chol.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un executed his defence chief for sleeping during a meeting and talking back to the young leader, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers on Wednesday, citing what it called credible information.

National Intelligence Service (NIS) officials told a closed-door parliamentary committee meeting that People’s Armed Forces Minister Hyon Yong Chol was killed by anti-aircraft gunfire with hundreds watching at a shooting range at Pyongyang’s Kang Kon Military Academy in late April, according to lawmaker Shin Kyoung-min.

The office of another lawmaker Lee Cheol Woo released similar information about the NIS briefing.

The NIS didn’t tell lawmakers how it got the information, only that it was from a variety of channels and that it believed it to be true, Mr. Shin said.

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