Image copyright Reuters Image caption Hyon Yong-chol spoke at an international security conference in Moscow last month 
 
 North Korea's Defence Minister Hyon Yong-chol has been executed for showing disloyalty to leader Kim Jong-un, South Korea's spy agency has told parliament. 
 
 MPs were told Mr Hyon was killed on 30 April by anti-aircraft fire in front of an audience of hundreds, the Yonhap news agency reports. 
 
 It said Mr Hyon had fallen asleep during an event attended by Kim Jong-un and had not carried out instructions. 
 
 South Korea said a senior military officer was also killed. 
 
 The news comes weeks after the reported execution of 15 senior officials. 
 
 Among them were two vice-ministers who had challenged Mr Kim over his policies and members of an orchestra, the South's National Intelligence Agency (NIS) said at the time. 
 
 Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption Mr Hyon (right, with Kim Jong-un) had been a general since 2010 
 
 Analysts told the BBC that while reshuffles of officials were commonplace in North Korea, the execution of a figure as close to Mr Kim as Mr Hyon was surprising and could give cause for concern about the country's stability. 
 
 Image copyright EPA Image caption Of the seven pallbearers at former leader Kim Jong-il's 2011 funeral, apart from Kim Jong-un, all have either been executed, have lost their jobs or have not been seen in some time 
 
 Analysis: Stephen Evans, BBC News, Seoul 
 
 Hyon Yong-chol, as defence minister, was as close to Kim Jong-un as it is possible to get. 
 
 Such a public and brutal method of execution as obliteration by anti-aircraft gun would emphasise the cost of disloyalty. 
 
 Intelligence reports always have to be treated with scepticism but, in this case, the claims of the South Korean spy agency will be easy to verify. If they are not true, the defence minister would appear again in public. 
 
 Earlier, the South Korean agency said that senior officials were being executed at the rate of one a week. It all adds up to a picture of a leader in Pyongyang who feels very insecure and who is dangerous in his insecurity. 
 
 'Execution' highlights Kim's insecurity 
 
 Hyon Yong-chol: the general who rose from obscurity 
 
 The 'theatre' of executions 
 
 Mr Hyon is believed to have been a general since 2010, though little is known about him. He served on the committee for late leader Kim Jong-il's funeral in December 2011, an indication of his growing influence. 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Kim Jong-un has conducted a series of purges of officials since coming to power 
 
 He was appointed defence minister last year. NK News said he last appeared in state media a day before the alleged execution date. 
 
 Last month, he travelled to Moscow to represent North Korea at a regional security conference. 
 
 Mike Madden of North Korea Leadership Watch told the BBC that if true, the execution was "entirely a demonstration of power and authority". 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Kim Jong-un's uncle, Chang Song-thaek, is the most high profile official to have been executed under his rule 
 
 "This is indicative of Kim Jong-un's impulsive decision-making", he said, and a sign of a leader who is "not feeling secure". 
 
 Also executed, according to South Korea, was Ma Won-chun, a lieutenant-general and architect who masterminded the building of a new ski resort in 2013. 
 
 Reports had said Mr Ma was in charge of North Korea's finances. 
 
 Mr Kim has conducted a series of purges of close officials since becoming North Korea's leader. 
 
 The most notable was his uncle, Chang Song-thaek - once the country's second-most powerful figure. 
 
 He was arrested in December 2013 in front of a party meeting, found guilty of treason and immediately executed. 
 
 There have been reports before of North Korea using heavy weaponry in executions, including mortars. 
 
 Last month, a rights group released satellite images it said showed unusual activity on a small arms range at the Kanggon army training area in October 2014. 
 
 Image copyright AFP 
 
 The US-based Committee for Human Rights in North Korea said the images showed large weaponry facing a very close target, a viewing area and several passenger vehicles. 
 
 It said the "most plausible explanation" for the image was a "gruesome public execution" by anti-aircraft fire. ||||| North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un had his defence minister executed with anti-aircraft fire for insubordination and dozing off during a formal military rally, South Korean intelligence said Wednesday, hinting at possible instability in the Pyongyang leadership. 
 
 If confirmed, it marks another demonstration of Kim's ruthlessness in dealing with even the most senior officials suspected of disloyalty, following the execution of his uncle and one-time political mentor Jang Song-Thaek in 2013. 
 
 It also points to possible power struggles within the top leadership, following Kim Jong-Un's decision to cancel a scheduled visit to Moscow last week in order to deal with "internal issues". 
 
 Late last month, the South's National Intelligence Agency (NIS) reported that Kim had ordered the execution of 15 senior officials so far this year, including two vice ministers, for questioning his authority. 
 
 In a briefing Wednesday to a parliamentary committee, Han Ki-Beom, the deputy director of NIS, said hundreds of people witnessed the execution of defence minister Hyon Yong-Chol, which was believed to have been carried out around April 30 at a military academy in northern Pyongyang. 
 
 Han told lawmakers that intelligence sources suggested Han was shot to pieces using an anti-aircraft gun firing 14.5mm calibre rounds. 
 
 View gallery North Korean Defense Minister, Hyon Yong-Chol, pictured in Pyongyang, in September 2014 (AFP Photo/- … 
 
 Such a violent method of execution has been cited in various unconfirmed reports as being reserved for senior officials who the leadership wishes to make examples of. 
 
 Last month, the US-based Committee for Human Rights in Korea published an October-dated satellite image of the same academy that analysts said showed a shooting range with anti-aircraft guns lined up in what appeared to be preparation for an execution. 
 
 - 'Reign of terror' - 
 
 Responding to the NIS report, Seoul's Unification Ministry said North Korea was under a "reign of terror" aimed at consolidating Kim Jong-Un's undisputed leadership. 
 
 The details of the NIS briefing were relayed to local reporters by lawmakers who attended the parliamentary committee. 
 
 View gallery A parade of the Worker-Peasant Red Guards takes place at Kim Il-Sung Square in Pyongyang, on Septemb … 
 
 The NIS told the committee that the minister had been arrested for expressing dissatisfaction with Kim's leadership, repeatedly ignoring his orders and dozing off during a rally that Kim presided over. 
 
 Yang Moo-Jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said Hyon's reported purge and execution were a shock. 
 
 "Hyon was seen as one of the three closest military officials to Kim Jong-Un," Yang told AFP. 
 
 Hyon had visited Russia in April -- partly to pave the way for Kim's scheduled trip to Moscow to attend a May 9 parade marking the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. 
 
 Yang speculated that the minister might have botched his mission, amid reports that he had been tasked with brokering a weapons deal in return for Kim's presence at the Moscow event. 
 
 View gallery South Korean TV shows news about the alleged dismissal of Jang Song-Thaek, North Korean leader Kim J … 
 
 Kim cancelled his attendance just days before the parade, citing "internal North Korea issues". 
 
 - Politically frustrated? - 
 
 "An inexperienced leader like Kim can often display a tendency for overtly dramatic and brash moves... and for me the situation looks quite worrisome," Yang said. 
 
 "It also suggests Kim is politically frustrated," he added. 
 
 Since taking over power in North Korea following the death of his father, Kim Jong-Il, in December 2011, Kim Jong-Un has repeatedly reshuffled his senior military leaders. 
 
 His most high-profile purge to date has been that of his once powerful uncle Jang Song-Thaek, who Kim condemned as "factionalist scum" following his execution. 
 
 The NIS has a patchy record with its intelligence reports on North Korea, which have sometimes missed key events or reported others later revealed to be false. 
 
 Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior analyst with the Sejong Institute think-tank in Seoul, said the NIS had been "rash" in reporting Hyon's execution on the basis of what he deemed "shaky, unconfirmed intelligence." 
 
 "It needs to be verified, but is already being reported as fact by the media which only adds to the confusion," Cheong said. ||||| SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un executed his defense chief for sleeping during a meeting and talking back to the young leader, South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers Wednesday, citing what it called credible information. 
 
 National Intelligence Service officials told a closed-door parliamentary committee meeting that People's Armed Forces Minister Hyon Yong Chol was killed by anti-aircraft gunfire with hundreds watching at a shooting range at Pyongyang's Kang Kon Military Academy in late April, according to lawmaker Shin Kyoung-min. Shin attended the briefing. 
 
 The office of anther lawmaker Lee Cheol Woo released similar information about the NIS briefing. 
 
 The NIS didn't tell lawmakers how it got the information, only that it was from a variety of channels and that it believed it to be true, Shin said. The agency wouldn't comment when contacted by The Associated Press. South Korea's spy agency has a spotty record of tracking developments in North Korea. Information about the secretive, authoritarian state is often impossible to confirm. 
 
 Since taking power upon the death of his dictator father in late 2011, Kim has orchestrated a series of purges in apparent efforts to bolster his grip on power. Analysts are split on whether the bloody power shifts indicate a young leader in firm control, or someone still struggling to establish himself. The most notable purge was in 2013 when Kim executed his uncle and chief deputy, Jang Song Thaek, for alleged treason. 
 
 Last month, spy officials told lawmakers that North Korea executed 15 senior officials accused of challenging Kim's authority.
– Public execution by anti-aircraft gun was the price of perceived disloyalty for North Korea's defense chief, according to South Korea's spy agency. Lawmakers in Seoul say they were told yesterday that military chief Hyon Yong Chol was killed for falling asleep during a military event and for disagreeing with Kim Jong Un, AFP reports. The Seoul lawmakers say the National Intelligence Service informed them that Hyon was killed in front of hundreds of people at a military academy in Pyongyang at the end of April, the AP reports. Hyon was little-known before 2012, when he was promoted after a purge that included the execution of Kim's uncle, reports the BBC. "Such a public and brutal method of execution as obliteration by anti-aircraft gun would emphasize the cost of disloyalty," writes Stephen Evans at the BBC, noting that while intelligence reports should be "treated with skepticism," it will be easy to verify this one by seeing whether Hyon appears in public again. According to the AFP, Hyon was last seen in public attending a musical performance on April 28, following a trip to Moscow to prepare for Kim's visit to Russia. The visit was called off around the same time Hyon was reportedly executed, and a South Korean analyst tells AFP he suspects botching the Moscow mission may have sealed the military chief's fate. Seoul's spy agency says at least 15 other people have been executed this year for challenging Kim.