N. Korea executes former official for 'policy failures'

London, July 20 (ANI): North Korea has executed a former Cabinet official over policy failures, the Daily Express reports.

Kwon Ho Ung - Pyongyang's chief delegate from 2004 to 2007 for high-level talks with the South's then liberal government - was executed by firing squad, Seoul's mass-circulation Dong-a Ilbo newspaper said, citing an unidentified source in Beijing knowledgeable about the North.

South Korean Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said she could not confirm the report, and the National Intelligence Service, South Korea's top spy agency, said it was checking on it.

Kwon was the former chief councillor of the North's Cabinet, but it was not clear what policy of his would have prompted his execution. (ANI)