Seoul: North Korea has publicly executed the country s defence minister after the regime accused him of treason, said a media report. Hyon Yong-chol, the chief of North Korea s People s Armed Forces, was executed by firing squad using an anti-aircraft gun at a military school in Pyongyang around April 30,

Yonhap News Agency reported quoting South Korea s National Intelligence Service (NIS) on Wednesday. Hyon was seen dozing off during a military event and did not carry out North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un s instructions, an NIS senior official agency said.

The intelligence agency also gave a similar briefing to lawmakers in a closed-door parliamentary session on Wednesday. Hyon was named as the armed forces chief in June 2014, the number two man within the North Korea military after Hwang pyong-so, director of the general political department of the Korean People s Army (KPA). North Korea has not announced its purge of Hyon yet. According to the NIS, North Korea has executed another 15 senior officials this year.