Story highlights Kim Won Hong fired for human rights abuses in prison camp system

Minister of State Security faced sanctions from US Treasury Department

(CNN) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has fired one of his top lieutenants, according to South Korea's Unification Ministry.

As Minister of State Security, Kim Won Hong oversaw the North Korean agency responsible for running the country's notorious prison camps, rooting out spies in North Korea and conducting counterespionage operations abroad.

Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said Kim Won Hong was punished for "human rights abuses committed during interrogations at the State Security Department" among other things.

The security chief was one of seven North Korean officials sanctioned by the US Treasury Department on January 11 for human rights abuses.

He was removed from his position in the North Korean government around that time, the South Korean official said.

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