North Korea has executed its top education official, Kim Yong Jin, the South Korean Unification Ministry said Wednesday.
Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon Hee held a press conference early on Wednesday to address media reports of a public execution of a senior-level North Korean official.
Two other officials, Kim Yong Chol, the head of North Korea's United Front Department (UFD), and a senior member of North Korea's propaganda department, received "revolutionary measures," commonly referred to as re-education, according to the spokesman.
No other details are immediately available.
Executions are widely considered a political tool forNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un to consolidate his hold on power.
In May 2015, the country's defense minister, Hyon Yong-chol, was reportedly killed with an anti-aircraft gun after being accused of treason.
Two years earlier, Kim's uncle, Jang Song-thaek, was executed after being branded a "traitor for all ages."