DPRK executes senior official for falling asleep during meeting: Report

A senior official has been killed for falling asleep during a meeting chaired by Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong-un along with a former minister, who was deemed as posing a threat to the leader.

According to South Korean media reports, senior official at the Education Ministry Ri Yong-jin was executed for falling asleep during a meeting chaired by Kim while former agriculture minister Hwang Min was killed for making policy proposals that were seen as a direct threat to Kim's leadership.

Both were executed by anti-aircraft gun at a military academy in Pyongyang earlier this month, reports the Guardian.

The purge of senior officials, who are deemed as a threat to Kim Jong-un's leadership continued to possibly generate fear among members of the elite after recent high-level defections.

However, nothing such has been reported by the state's official KCNA news agency.

The rumoured executions would, however, fit into a pattern of purges Kim has ordered against perceived enemies since he became the leader in late 2011 after the death of his father Kim Jong-il.

The most influential official to have been executed was Jang Song-thaek, Kim's uncle and second-in-command.

Jang, denounced as a "traitor for all ages", was killed in December 2013 after being found guilty of treason and other crimes against the North Korean state.

In April last year, Hyon Yong-chol, a former defence chief, was executed after falling asleep during a military rally attended by Kim.