British media reports that Kim Jong-un has executed one of the people he has been closest to in recent years, the former foreign minister of the communist state.
Ri Yong-ho negotiated North Korea's nuclear deal with the United States.
According to "The Sun", he is suspected to have been executed in the middle of a large military exercise held recently. The top diplomat, who was also previously North Korea's ambassador to Great Britain, is said to have been executed after earlier leaving the Kim administration.
Deputy Youn Kun-young said in the South Korean parliament that he had information from the Intelligence Service that Ri Yong-ho had been "cleared".
He served as North Korea's ambassador to Britain from 2003 to 2007, and was appointed foreign secretary in 2016 and became famous for his heated arguments with the Americans until the nuclear deal was reached.