North Korea state television continued to show Hyon Yong Chol, left, in archived video footage. Sources inside North Korea said the network is broadcasting the images of North Korea's defense minister in order to mitigate reaction from the international community to reports that he has been executed. Photo by KCNA/Yonhap

SEOUL, May 15 (UPI) -- The purge of North Korea defense minister Hyon Yong Chol is believed to have led to his execution, according to sources in North Korea.

The report follows announcements from Seoul's spy agency that claimed Hyon had been purged and possibly executed – although Hyon's death ultimately could not be confirmed by South Korea.


But South Korea-based media outlet Daily NK reported sources in Pyongyang and other parts of North Korea said there is growing evidence Hyon was executed.

One source inside North Korea said Hyon's purge was mentioned during a lecture delivered by "political department officers of the highest-ranking military unit."

During the speech, Hyon was referred to as "an autocratic warlord who refused orders from the Supreme Leader," Kim Jong Un, the source told Daily NK on Thursday.

Comparisons between Hyon's case and the "Kim Chang Bong incident" of 1968 were also made, the source said. Kim Chang Bong, a fellow anti-colonial guerrilla fighter of North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, was executed for opposing North Korea's monolithic ideology.

North Korea military cadres are expected to undergo "ideology tests" soon, said another source, adding personnel are "unable to conceal their fears after catching wind of Hyon's execution."

Another source in North Korea's Yangkang Province said locals had heard Hyon was executed with anti-aircraft machine guns 10 days earlier.

The same source said state television continued to show Hyon Yong Chol in archived video footage in order to mitigate reactions from the international community.

On Friday, Seoul's spy agency said it is "confident" in its claims of Hyon's execution, reported The Hankyoreh. The statement comes two days after the National Intelligence Service made conflicting claims about North Korea's defense minister.

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North Korea scholar Adam Cathcart wrote in The Guardian on Friday that since the execution of Kim Jong Un's uncle Jang Song Thaek, North Korean men and women in schools and factories are expected to sing "We will only follow you," a new song from North Korea's Moranbong band that adulates the North Korean leader.