SEOUL, REPUBLIC OF KOREA—The bizarre execution of North Korea’s defence minister by anti-aircraft gun has South Korean analysts split over whether the alleged purge signals strength or weakness on the part of Kim Jong Un, who took power in North Korea after his father’s death in 2011.

Kim reportedly ordered Hyon Yong Chol executed in April for complaining about the young ruler, talking back to him and dozing off during a meeting presided over by Kim, according South Korea’s spy agency.

One expert described these high-profile recent purges and executions by Kim as an attempt to orchestrate a “reign of terror” to solidify his leadership.

National Intelligence Service (NIS) officials told a closed-door parliamentary committee meeting this week that Hyon was killed in front of hundreds of spectators at a shooting range at Kang Kon Military Academy in late April.

Kim Gwang-lim, chairman of the South’s intelligence committee, quoted the spy service as saying Hyon had failed several times to comply with unspecified instructions by Kim.

The NIS didn’t tell lawmakers how it got the information, only that it was from a variety of channels. The agency refused to confirm the report for The Associated Press.

South Korea’s spy agency has a spotty record of tracking developments in North Korea. Information about the secretive, authoritarian state is often impossible to confirm.

Analyst Cheong Seong-chang at the private Sejong Institute think-tank in South Korea questioned the authenticity of the report on Hyon’s execution because the minister still frequently appears in state TV footage.

North Korea typically removes executed and purged officials from TV documentaries, but Hyon has appeared several times in a TV documentary on live fire drills between April 30 and May 11.

North Korea’s state media hasn’t mentioned Hyon since an April 29 report of a music performance.

Kim’s purges in recent years are seen as efforts to bolster his grip on power. The most notable was in 2013, when Kim executed his uncle and chief deputy, Jang Song Thaek, for alleged “thrice-cursed treason.”d Last month, spy officials told lawmakers North Korea executed 15 senior officials accused of challenging Kim’s authority.

Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Dongguk University in Seoul, said Kim appears to be using purges to keep the military old guard in check because they pose the only plausible threat to his rule.

He said Kim could be pushing a “reign of terror” to solidify his leadership, but those efforts would fail if he doesn’t improve the country’s shattered economy.

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