North Korea leader Kim Jong Un executed its special envoy to the United States following the collapse of the second summit between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump.
World leaders Kim Jong Un of North Korea and US President Donald Trump held a summit in February at Vietnam. The three-day meet between the leaders however fizzled out as it was cut short and no tangible agreement was reached between the two. Neither leaders got what they wanted as Trump asked Kim to dismantle all of its nuclear weapons program. Kim offered to dismantle only most important nuclear facility if the United States lifted the harsh sanctions imposed on his nation. And this somehow proved to be a deal-breaker.
The Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper reported that Kim Hyok Chol, who laid the groundwork for the Hanoi meeting and accompanied Kim on his private train, was executed by firing squad for "betraying the supreme leader" after he was turned by the US.
"Kim Hyok Chol was executed in March at Mirim Airport along with four senior foreign ministry officials following an investigation," the newspaper quoted an unidentified source as saying.
The other officials were not named.
Kim Hyok Chol was the North's counterpart of US special representative Stephen Biegun. According to the news report, Kim Jong's interpreter Shin Hye Yong was sent to a prison camp for a mistake at the summit.
She failed to translate Kim's new proposal when Trump declared "no deal" and walked away from the table, Chosun reported, citing another unnamed diplomatic source.
Ever since the failed deal with US, North Korea has sought to raise the pressure and carried out two short-range missile tests in May.
Senior party official Kim Yong Chol, the North's counterpart to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in nuclear talks, was also sent to a labour camp, the paper said.
In April, South Korea's parliamentary intelligence committee said Kim Yong Chol, despite being named member of the State Affairs Commission, had been censured over his handling of the Hanoi summit.
