Report: North Korea's defense minister executed in public
 
 
Around April 30, North Korea executed its defense minister, Hyon Yong Chol, by firing squad, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reports.
The execution took place in front of hundreds of people at a military school in Pyongyang, the agency says, citing a media briefing by the National Intelligence Service. Hyon "was purged for lese majeste" after he was spotted "dozing off" during a military event and "did not carry out" unspecified instructions by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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