(Photo : Reuters / Kyodo) Kim Jong-un (4th L) salutes as he and his uncle Jang Song-thaek (3rd L) accompany the hearse carrying the coffin of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il during his funeral procession in Pyongyang on December 28, 2011.


Kim Jong Un, the leader of reclusive nation North Korea, executed 10 government officials charged of graft and watching South Korean television shows, a South Korean official's aide revealed.



The latest executions, which were carried out via shooting, is part of Kim's effort to purge the nation, South Korean Saenuri Party lawmaker Lee Cheol Woo's aide Lim Dae Sung said. In December last year, he also executed his uncle and deputy Jang Song Thaek for graft, factionalism and sexual misbehaviour, Bloomberg relayed.



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Lee, however, did not disclose the names of the killed officials and the site of the executions, the report added.



The young North Korean leader is fresh from a six-week hiatus after undergoing surgery for the removal of a cyst from his right ankle, said Lim. A foreign doctor flew in to perform the procedure, he added.



Kim, who took over the nation after the death of his father Kim Jong Il in December 2011, is trying to get a better grip on his leadership after his long absence from the public eye prompted rumors about his weakening health and power, the report explained.



"Kim Jong Un is trying to establish absolute power and strengthen his regime with public punishments," Seoul-based North Korean expert Yang Moo Jin said. "However, frequent purges can create side effects."



North Korea has stirred the anger of army officials when it started performing more public executions and expanding prison camps in the country, said Lim. Kim used these purges to consolidate his power, and even terminated Ri Yong Ho, the Chief of General Staff in 2012. The latter was the one who guided Kim when he succeeded his father.



In addition, the North Korean leader replaced the leaders in the military. In June, he had Army General Hyon Yong Chol replace Minister of the People's Armed Forces Jang Jong Nam, according to Yonhap.



On the same month, Kim warned that he will show no mercy to anyone found to have links with a certain Western comedy movie that portrays an assassination attempt on him.



"The Interview," a movie starring James Franco and Seth Rogen, coincides with the plot of the unidentified movie that Kim was talking about. The story involves two celebrity reporters who successfully interviewed the North Korean leader and were later on hired by the Central Intelligence Agency as assassins, the report detailed.




TagsNorth Korea, execution, government officials, Graft, soap opera