Report: N. Korean defense minister executed for falling asleep at event

USPA News - North Korean Defense Minister Hyon Yong-chol has been executed on treason charges after he fell asleep at an event attended by Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, South Korea`s spy agency claimed on Wednesday, though it was not possible to confirm the report. Hyon Yong-chol, believed to be in his 60s, was executed at a military school in the capital Pyongyang, where hundreds of people witnessed the killing by firing squad, the Yonhap news agency quoted the South`s National Intelligence Service (NIS) as saying.

It said the firing squad used anti-aircraft guns to carry out the execution. There was no immediate word from North Korea to confirm the death or execution of the minister. The National Intelligence Service told Yonhap that Hyon had fallen asleep at an event attended by Kim, after which he was purged to be executed on treason charges. The exact date of the execution was not immediately clear. He was last seen in mid-April when he addressed an international security conference in Moscow.