North Korea has executed its army chief of staff on corruption and other charges, according to news reports quoting sources familiar with North Korean affairs.
Army Gen. Ri Yong-gil, chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army, also faced charges of pursuing personal gain, the South Korean Yonghap News Agency reports. The execution was also reported by the Reuters news agency.
According to one source quoted by Yonghap, Ri was executed last week as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was presiding over a joint meeting of the North's ruling Workers' Party and the military.
Ri, who served as the chief of the General Staff for almost three years, accompanied the North Korean leader on a series of inspection trips to military exercises and the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces until last month, but was absent at the joint meeting of the party and military, Younghap reports.
He also was not listed as attending events in Pyongyang celebrating the controversial launch of a satellite on Sunday. A report on the event in the North's Rodong Sinmun newspaper did not mention Ri and instead listed Gen. Ri Myong-su in his place.
