North Korea has executed a number of senior officials involved in failed talks with the US in Vietnam, according to a report.

The second summit between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump ended in failure back in February, with the two leaders walking away from negotiations in Hanoi due to a dispute over sanctions.

South Korean newspaper the Chosun Ilbo said Kim Hyok Chol, the special North Korean envoy to the US, and other officials who carried out working-level talks during the summit were held responsible by Pyongyang for its collapse and were killed as part of a massive purge in March.

Image: Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un's talks in Vietnam wrapped up early

The Choson Ilbo said the killings were carried out to divert attention away from internal turmoil and discontent, with a recent UN report claiming the country's population is living in a "vicious cycle of deprivation, corruption and repression".

Kim Hyok Chol and his colleagues were reportedly killed after being charged with spying for the US.


Another senior official, Kim Yong Chol - the counterpart to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ahead of the meeting - is also reported to have been subjected to forced labour and ideological education.

Kim Jong Un is also said to have inflicted punishment upon his interpreter at the summit, Shin Hye Yong, supposedly for undermining his authority and making a "critical interpretation mistake".

His sister, Kim Yo Jong, is said to be "lying low" in light of the brutal crackdown, as she also attended the summit.

She has been one of the most prominent members of Mr Kim's entourage during his travels, having been in Singapore for his first summit with Mr Trump and also appearing at the Winter Olympics in South Korea last year.

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The reports came after North Korean state newspaper Rodong Sinmum published an editorial warning of punishments for those who "only memorise words of loyalty" towards the leader.

It said: "Acting like one is revering the leader in front [of others] but dreaming of something else when one turns around, is an anti-party, anti-revolutionary act that has thrown away the moral fidelity toward the leader, and such people will not avoid the stern judgement of the revolution.

"There are traitors and turncoats who only memorise words of loyalty toward the Leader and even change according to the trend of the time."

Mr Kim is said to have killed dozens of senior officials since taking power in 2011, including his half-brother and uncle over an alleged Chinese-backed plot to oust him.

In 2016, one official was reportedly killed with an anti-aircraft gun for falling asleep in a meeting with Mr Kim.