News / Koreas

North Korea executes chief of military staff: South Korea

Thursday, 11 February 2016 6:41 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 11 February 2016 6:42 AM ]

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un (R) watches a military parade with the chief of the military’s general staff General Ri Yong-gil, Oct. 2015. (photo by AFP)

North Korea has executed the country’s chief of military staff over alleged corruption, says a South Korean official.

The South Korean official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Thursday that Ri Yong Gil, the chief of the North Korean military’s general staff, was executed on charges of “factionalism, misuse of authority and corruption.”

The South Korean official declined to give further details on how or when Ri had been executed.

The official said the North Korean chief of military staff was considered one of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s trusted aides because he frequently accompanied Kim’s inspection tours of army units and factories.

In an official meeting last week, Kim had reportedly called for a fight against the misuse of authority, abuse of power and “bureaucratism,” which he said undermined unity in North Korea.

North Korea has reportedly executed a number of its top officials for corruption or treason in the recent past.

The most remarkable among them were the country’s Defense Minister Hyon Yong Chol who was executed in 2015, and Kim’s powerful uncle Jang Song Thaek, who was executed in 2013.

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