SEOUL, South Korea—North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had his military chief executed for corruption and other charges, a South Korean official said Thursday.
If true, the execution of Ri Yong Gil, chief of the North Korean military’s general staff, would be the latest in a series of killings, purges and dismissals since Kim took power in late 2011.
Details about North Korea’s opaque government are notoriously difficult for outsiders to get, even national governments, and South Korean officials have a spotty record of tracking developments in North Korea.
Speculation about his fate flared after he missed two key national events in North Korea—a meeting of senior ruling Workers’ Party officials and a rally celebrating the North’s rocket test this week.
The Workers’ Party meeting presided over by Kim focused on rooting out corruption and abuses of power and “bureaucratism,” according to the North’s state media.
South Korea’s intelligence service said last year that 70 North Korean officials have been executed since Kim’s inauguration. The most notable executions were the killings of Armed Forces Minister Hyon Yong Chol for disloyalty in 2015 and Kim’s powerful uncle Jang Song Thaek for alleged treason in 2013.
Some outside experts have said repeated bloody power shifts in North Korea indicated the young leader is still struggling to establish himself.
