( CNN ) -- It 's `` very likely '' that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un 's powerful uncle , Jang Sung-taek , has been removed from his top-level position in government , two South Korean lawmakers said Tuesday , citing a briefing from their country 's intelligence service . And two close allies of Jang -- Lee Yong-ha and Jang Soo-kee -- have been publicly executed , one of the South Korean lawmakers said at a news conference . The lawmakers , including Cho Won-jin of the governing Saenuri Party , said this after receiving what they said was a briefing from South Korea 's National Intelligence Service . CNN has not been able to independently confirm the report . Jang Sung-taek was the brother-in-law of North Korea 's previous ruler , Kim 's father , Kim Jong Il . When the elder Kim died and the son succeeded him , analysts told CNN that Jang would be a power behind the throne as the younger Kim took control of the reclusive nation . Jang was the vice chairman of North Korea 's top military body and has often been pictured beside Kim . His removal would mark a major upheaval in North Korea 's leadership since Kim succeeded his father , who died in in 2011 . Some have said he may have been at the heart of an internal palace struggle , one which might have put him even at odds with his own wife , Kim Kyong Hui , according to a Time magazine report two years ago . `` If this is in fact true , the implications are pretty profound , '' said John Park , a Northeast Asia analyst at Harvard 's Kennedy School of Government . `` Some see this as perhaps the last part of the power consolidation phase , that Kim Jong Un has in fact removed all of the old guard close to his father and is now finalizing the inserting of his own inner group , '' Park told CNN . But he said Jang `` was seen as a force of stability '' by China , North Korea 's leading ally . `` I think there will be a lot of concern in Beijing right now , '' Park said . Jang cultivated extensive business ties with China , so his removal `` also has implications in terms of making money for the regime . '' But he said other analysts suspect Jang , who had fallen from favor several years ago for building his own patronage network , may have been caught trying to rebuild that system , resulting in his ouster . It has previously been reported that Kim Il Sung -- father of Kim Jong Il and architect of the North Korean state -- disapproved of Jang 's marriage into the family , according to Time . North Korea , a state shrouded in secrecy , is involved in a protracted standoff with its neighbors and Western powers over its nuclear weapons program . Tensions between North and South Korea soared this year as Pyongyang reacted angrily to tightened United Nations sanctions imposed in response to its latest nuclear test . The two sides are still technically at war after the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in a mere truce , not a treaty . CNN 's Judy Kwon in Hong Kong , Matt Smith in Atlanta and journalist Yoonjung Seo in Seoul contributed to this report .
Kim Jong Un may have cemented his power by killing his rivals , analyst says . Jang Sung - il was the vice chairman of North Korea 's top military commission . He has been removed and two of his close allies have been executed , South Korean lawmaker says . If confirmed , the executions would mark a major upheaval in North Korea 's leadership .