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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Mangaluru airport faces bomb threat, security heightened
Mangaluru: In a concerning development, Mangaluru International Airport has been targeted by a bomb threat, as reported today. The threat, purportedly originating from a terrorist organisation, was communicated via email resulting in immediate action from the authorities.
Authorities immediately responded by bolstering security measures at the airport premises. Reports indicate that explosives may have been clandestinely planted within the airport vicinity. Additionally, the threat extends to all three planes stationed at the airport.
The gravity of the situation is furthermore because of a bomb threat email received on April 29, leading to a formal case being registered at the Bajpe police station.
As the investigation unfolds, authorities remain vigilant to ensure the safety and security of all airport personnel and passengers.
