North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
Kim Jong UnThe Hill’s 12:30 Report: Mueller breaks silence in surprise statement Shanahan breaks with Trump on North Korea missile tests Maxine Waters: Trump should resign and ‘free us’ from impeachment proceedings MORE reportedly ordered the execution of several top officials in March after they were unable to reach an agreement with President Trump
Donald John TrumpTrump: ‘I was not informed about’ reported request to move USS John McCain Meghan McCain: Trump is a ‘child’ who will always be ‘deeply threatened’ by my dad Trump accuses Democrats of crime amid rising calls for impeachment MORE at a second summit between the two leaders earlier this year.
Bloomberg News reported Thursday citing a South Korean newspaper that Kim Hyok Chol, North Korea’s special envoy to the U.S., was executed in March along with four other North Korean foreign ministry officials involved in the Hanoi, Vietnam, summit.
A fifth official, Kim Jong Un’s top deputy, Kim Yong Chol, has reportedly been sentenced to hard labor, according to the newspaper.
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An unnamed North Korean source told the Chosun Ilbo newspaper that Kim Yong Chol and four other officials were executed at a North Korean airport for allegedly spying on behalf of the U.S.
“Kim Hyok Chol was investigated and executed at Mirim Airport with four foreign ministry officials in March,” the source said.
A North Korean state-run newspaper reportedly threatened consequences on Thursday for anyone who would “act” as if they were revering the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, while secretly harboring desires for change.
“Acting like one is revering the Leader in front (of others) but dreaming of something else when one turns around, is an anti-Party, anti-revolutionary act that has thrown away the moral fidelity toward the Leader, and such people will not avoid the stern judgment of the revolution,” read an article in Rodong Sinmun, according to Reuters.
“There are traitors and turncoats who only memorize words of loyalty toward the Leader and even change according to the trend of the time,” the newspaper’s commentary continued.
