Seoul (CNN)North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is continuing to rule with an iron fist, having ordered the execution of about 15 senior officials so far this year, according to an assessment by South Korean intelligence agents, a lawmaker who attended a closed briefing said. 

Shin Kyung-min, a lawmaker with the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, told a handful of reporters that he had been given the information by the South Korean National Intelligence Service. 

CNN cannot independently confirm the executions. The nature of the intelligence supporting the National Intelligence Service allegations was also not immediately clear. North Korea is one of the most closed societies in the world. 

According to Shin, intelligence officials say Kim is ruling in an impromptu manner and does not countenance excuses or any views at variance with his own. 

He considers those a challenge to his authority, the intelligence officials said, according to Shin. 

For example, a senior official with Ministry of Forestry was executed for expressing dissatisfaction with the country's forestry program, the lawmaker said. 

North Korean defectors share their ordeals 

The vice chairman of the State Planning Commission was executed because he objected to changing the design of a science and technology hall from a rounded shape to one resembling a flower, the intelligence officials said, according to the lawmaker. 

And in March, according to the South Korean lawmaker, Kim executed on charges of espionage four members of the Unhasu Orchestra, including the general director, because of a scandal, Shin said. 

Kim became North Korea's Supreme Commander in December 2011 following the death of his father, Kim Jong Il. According to the National Intelligence Service, he is reported to have executed 17 senior officials in 2012, 10 in 2013 and 41 in 2014.  QUESTIONS:

Q1:
1. Who rules North Korea?
2. Who is in charge of North Korea?
3. What is the name of North Korea's head of state?
Q2:
1. When did Kim Jong Un come into power?
2. When was Kim Jong Un given control of North Korea?
3. On what date did North Korea come to be ruled by Kim Jong Un?
Q3:
1. What is Kim Jong Un's accepted title?
2. What is the correct title for Kim Jong Un?
3. What title does Kim Jong Un officially go by?
Q4:
1. What is Kim Jong Un the Supreme Commander of?
2. Which nation recognizes Kim Jong Un as its Supreme Commander?
3. Where does Kim Jong Un rule as Supreme Commander?
Q5:
1. What was the name of Kim Jong Un's father?
2. What man is Kim Jong Un the son of?
3. Who was Kim Jong Un's dad?
Q6:
1. What network appears in the article?
2. What network does the article mention?
3. What news station is in the article?
Q7:
1. Does the article mention any legislators besides Kim Jong Un?
2. Do lawmakers other than Kim Jong Un get named in the article?
3. Does the excerpt name anyone involved in lawmaking other than Kim Jong Un?
Q8:
1. What lawmaker does the article mention?
2. Who is the lawmaker that appears in the article
3. What is the name of the lawmaker that the article talks about?
Q9:
1. Does Shin Kyung-min's employer appear in the article?
2. Does the article mention who Shin Kyung-min works for?
3. Do we learn who Shin Kyung-min from the article?
Q10:
1. Who is Shin Kyung-min's employer?
2. Who does Shin Kyung-min work for?
3. Where is Shin Kyung-min employed?
Q11:
1. Did Shin Kyung-min speak to someone?
2. Was there someone that Shin Kyung-min recently conversed with?
3. Did Shin Kyung-min have a conversation with someone?
Q12:
1. Who did Shin Kyung-min converse with?
2. Who did Shin Kyung-min talk to?
3. Who spoke with Shin Kyung-min?
Q13:
1. How many reporters did Shin Kyung-min speak with?
2. How many reporters talked to Shin Kyung-min?
3. What was the quantity of reporters that spoke with Shin Kyung-min?
Q14:
1. What did Shin Kyung-min say to reporters?
2. What was Shin Kyung-min's message to reporters?
3. What did Shin Kyung-min report to the press?
Q15:
1. Who gave Shin Kyung-min information?
2. Where did Shin Kyung-min's informatino come from?
3. What was the source of Shin Kyung-min's information?
