North Korea’s Most Powerful General Subjected to ‘Unknown Punishment’

North Korean Hwang Pyong-So, director of the military's General Political Bureau, the top military post in North Korea, leaves a hotel at Incheon, South Korea on Oct. 4, 2014. Hwang, often described as North Korea’s second-most powerful man, is being subjected to an unknown form of punishment, according to intelligence sources in South Korea. BAY ISMOYO/AFP/Getty Images

The head of North Korea’s most powerful military organization is being punished after a key military organ came under scrutiny by the Kim Jong Un regime, South Korea’s spy agency disclosed Monday.

The move is being read by some as an attempt by Kim to ensure the political elite remain insecure and loyal as the country braces for deeper impacts from U.N. Security Councils sanctions.