South Korea: North Korean Deputy Prime Minister Executed

South Korea's official news agency reported on Wednesday, August 21, that the Deputy Prime Minister of North Korea was executed several months ago due to disagreements with some of Kim Jong Un's decisions. According to Reuters, the South Korean news agency Yonhap quoted an unnamed source stating that Choe Yong Un, 63, and a former member of the inter-Korean cooperation committee, was executed in June this year. Since Kim Jong Un came to power in North Korea in late 2011, several senior officials of this regime have been executed. Mr. Choe opposed the North Korean leader's policies on forestry in May this year and apparently did not perform well according to the regime's assessments. The South Korean Ministry of Unification, which manages relations with North Korea, stated in a brief statement sent to Reuters that Choe Yong Un has not been seen in public for about eight months and that the agency is carefully examining his situation. The South Korean Security Agency declined to answer Reuters' questions on this matter. In a report to the South Korean parliament in May, the Security Agency stated that the North Korean regime executed its Minister of Defense (the commander of the armed forces) by anti-aircraft fire from a firing squad. Reuters recalls that according to previous reports from the North Korean state news agency, Choe Yong Un was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister last year. The South Korean news agency adds that their information source indicates that the North Korean regime also executed a senior official in the ruling party in September last year. Choe Yong Un had been active in the inter-Korean relations committee since 2000 and was responsible for economic cooperation between the two countries from 2003 to 2005. He participated in the opening ceremony of the Kaesong industrial complex in 2004, which is jointly managed by both Koreas and is the only remaining project from the joint economic initiatives between the two countries.