North Korea executes top education official, South Korea says

North Korea has executed its top education official, Kim Yong Jin, by firing squad, a South Korean government official told CNN on Wednesday.

READ: North Korea missile test earns Kim Jong Un’s praise

Kim was branded “anti-party and a counter-revolutionary member” by the country’s State Security Department, after he exercised a “bad attitude” during North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly in June, the official said.

Kim Yong Jin

South Korea’s Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon Hee confirmed the execution during a press conference early on Wednesday, held to address media reports of a public execution of a senior-level North Korean official.

Two other senior officials were also punished in the past few months, the Unification Ministry said, although they escaped execution.

Kim Yong Chol, the head of North Korea’s United Front Department, received “revolutionary punishment” at a rural farm, or hard labor, between mid-July and mid-August.

The United Front Department is the government body which manages dialogue and policies with South Korea.

He was accused of abuse of power, including “an overbearing manner and forceful push to strengthening authority into (the) Party’s United Front Department,” the South Korean official said. He is expected to return to his post.

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Choe Hwi, a senior official with the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Worker’s Party, was also punished and has been undergoing “revolutionary re-education” in a rural area since late May, the South Korean official said.

Two North Korean soldiers ride a military vehicle through Kim Il Sung Square.

A soldier stands at attention in Pyongyang, North Korea, Saturday, October 10, during a military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the North Korea's ruling Worker's Party, and commemorating Kim Jong Un's third-generation leadership.

North Korean soldiers march beneath a portrait of late leader Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un's father, during the parade in Pyongyang.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, stands with visiting Chinese official Liu Yunshan above the parade in Pyongyang.

North Korean airplanes fly in formation over Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square, displaying the number 70.

North Koreans parade with flags of the ruling Workers' Party.

North Korean tanks roll down the streets of Pyongyang.

North Korean girls wear replica grenades as they march during the parade in Pyongyang.

North Koreans hold decorative flowers during the parade.

In a carefully choreographed show of strength and celebration to mark the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party, hundreds of troops marched in elaborate formations across Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square.

A North Korean soldier salutes during the military parade on Kim Il Sung Square.

North Koreans parade beneath a portrait of leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korean soldiers march below statues of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung and his son, Kim Jong Il.

Jets fly over the Juche Tower during the parade on Kim Il Sung Square.

North Korean veterans gather at the start of the parade.

North Korean dancers perform during the parade at Kim Il Sung Square.

A volunteer holds burning torches at Kim Il Sung Square.

North Korea holds military parade

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Executions are widely considered a political tool for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to consolidate his hold on power.

In May 2015, the country’s defense minister, Hyon Yong-chol, was reportedly killed with an anti-aircraft gun after being accused of treason.

South Korean news reports the death of Hyon Yong Chol

Two years earlier, Kim’s uncle, Jang Song-thaek, was executed after being branded a “traitor for all ages.”

Kim's executed uncle Jang Song Thaek