North Korea Executes Education Minister for 'Bad Attitude'

North Korea's latest execution appears to include the country's vice premier for education in what seems to be an effort to discipline top aides, South Korean officials said Wednesday.

South Korea confirmed the execution of Kim Yong Jin, the country's education head, "through various channels," Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said, according to Reuters. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly also rebuked two other high ranking officials recently in an effort to consolidate power, which has included purges and executions.

The firing squad execution reportedly happened in July.

North Korea's state security department labeled Kim Yong Jin "anti-party and a counter-revolutionary member" after he displayed a "bad attitude" during the country's Supreme People's Assembly in June, CNN reported.

"Kim Yong-Jin was denounced for his bad sitting posture when he was sitting below the rostrum" during a session of North Korea's parliament, and then underwent an interrogation that revealed other "crimes," a South Korean official told reporters, according to Yahoo News.

An expert on North Korea at Seoul National University told Stars and Stripes that Kim Yong Jin's execution suggests that Kim Jong Un regime may be worried. North Korea experts in South Korea speculate that a recent string of defections, led by the London-based diplomat Thae Yong Ho, could be a sign that the regime is suffering from instability.

Two other senior officials reportedly were punished.

Kim Yong Chol, the head of North Korea's United Front Department, which handles inter-Korean relations, underwent "revolutionary measures," for his overbearing demeanor, Jeong told reporters. Kim, 71, was a career military intelligence official who was believed to be the leader behind North Korea's cyberattacks on Seoul.

Choe Hwi, the Worker's Party senior official with the Propaganda and Agitation Department, was punished by Kim Jong Un and underwent "revolutionary re-education," a South Korea official said, according to CNN.

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