North Korea 'executed' officials after failed Trump summit: report
Seoul: North Korea executed its special envoy to the United States following the collapse of the second summit between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump, a South Korean newspaper reported Friday.
The Chosun Ilbo said Kim Hyok Chol, who laid the groundwork for the Hanoi meeting and accompanied Kim on his private train, was executed by firing squad for "betraying the supreme leader" after he was turned by the US.
"Kim Hyok Chol was executed in March at Mirim Airport along with four senior foreign ministry officials following an investigation," the newspaper quoted an unidentified source as saying.
The other officials were not named.
Kim Hyok Chol was the North's counterpart of US special representative Stephen Biegun in the run-up to the Hanoi summit in February. South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean relations, declined to comment on the report.
The paper also said Kim Jong Un's interpreter Shin Hye Yong was sent to a prison camp for a mistake at the summit.
She failed to translate Kim's new proposal when Trump declared "no deal" and walked away from the table, Chosun reported, citing another unnamed diplomatic source.
Kim Jong Un and Trump left the Vietnamese capital without a deal after they failed to reach agreement on rolling back Pyongyang's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
The North has since sought to raise the pressure and carried out two short-range missile tests in May.
Senior party official Kim Yong Chol, the North's counterpart to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in nuclear talks, was also sent to a labour camp, the paper said.
In April, South Korea's parliamentary intelligence committee said Kim Yong Chol had been censured over his handling of the Hanoi summit, despite the fact he had recently been named a member of the State Affairs Commission, a supreme governing body chaired by Kim Jong Un.
News of the reported purge came as North Korea's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper, mouthpiece of the ruling party, Thursday warned that officials who committed anti-party or anti-revolutionary acts would face the "stern judgement of the revolution".
Previous South Korean reports of North Korean purges and executions have later proved inaccurate.
The Chosun Ilbo itself incorrectly reported in 2013 that Hyon Song Wol, head of the North's Samjiyon Orchestra, was executed by firing squad for distributing and watching pornographic content.
And the Unification Ministry also mistakenly announced in February 2016 that Ri Yong Gil, chief of the general staff of the North Korean People's Army, had been executed.
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Russia, China object to US UNSC Presidency's Programme of Work over Iran
United Nations (PTI): In a development highlighting polarisation in the UN Security Council, the monthly programme of work for the US Presidency of the powerful UN organ could not be adopted after Russia and China raised objections concerning Iran.
The United States, a veto-wielding permanent member, assumed the Presidency of the 15-nation UN Security Council for the month of March. As is customary, a monthly programme of work that outlines the Council’s anticipated meetings and events for the month is adopted by the UN body at the commencement of the Presidency.
The Council President then briefs the media in the UN headquarters on the UNSC programme of work and agenda for the month.
However, the US-drafted programme of work for its monthly presidency of the Council could not be adopted on Monday after the other veto-wielding permanent members Russia and China raised objections pertaining to the 1737 Sanctions Committee concerning Iran.
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“Russia & China objected to the adoption of the US-drafted UNSC PoW (Programme of Work) for March,” Russia’s Permanent Mission to the UN said.
“We were compelled to take this step because the provisional programme of work proposed by the US included a briefing on the work of the 1737 Sanctions Committee concerning Iran, whose work was allegedly resumed in September 2025 following the triggering by the UK, France, and Germany of the “snapback” mechanism to reimpose the anti-Iranian Security Council resolutions,” Russia said.
“In February, we once again brought our position on this matter to the attention of our US colleagues, urging them to refrain from including such an event in the provisional programme of work. Unfortunately, our appeal remained unheeded. For this very reason, we had no other choice but to object to the adoption of the UNSC programme of work for March,” it said.
The UN Security Council had in 2015 adopted a resolution that implemented the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) concerning Iran's nuclear programme. In August 2020, the United States invoked the resolution's "snapback" mechanism, under which the Security Council can reimpose UN sanctions.
Last year, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (UK) (collectively known as the "E3") invoked the snapback mechanism, which resulted in the sanctions being reimposed on Iran on September 27, 2025 “based on Iran’s continuing “significant non-performance” of its nuclear commitments.”
In the wake of the failure of the adoption of its monthly Programme of Work, the US released its “Plan of Work” outlining the Council’s anticipated meetings and events for the month.
A press conference by the US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz to brief members of the media on the Programme of Work, initially scheduled for March 3, was also cancelled.
Council Presidents traditionally host about two signature events during their presidency. The first signature event by the US was a briefing on March 2 titled “Children, Technology, and Education in Conflict” under agenda item “Maintenance of international peace and security” which was presided over by First Lady Melania Trump, a history-making event since it was the first time ever that the spouse of a world leader chaired a UNSC meeting.
The second signature event that the US is expected to host will be a briefing on ‘Energy, critical minerals, and security’.
The US took over the UNSC gavel just a day after it, along with Israel, launched military strikes against Iran, killing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior leaders. Tehran launched retaliatory attacks against American and Israeli targets in West Asia, a region that is now plunged in a devastating war that is impacting millions of civilians.
