North Korea 'executes four foreign ministry officials' after accusing them of selling information to the US ahead of Kim Jong-un's failed summit with the US
- Four North Korean officials reportedly killed by firing squad over failed summit
- Foreign ministry workers were allegedly blamed for break down of Trump talks
- Kim Jong-un allegedly claimed the four sold information to the US authorities
- Top adviser and nuclear negotiator Kim Yong Chol sacked and sister 'demoted'
Four North Korean officials have reportedly been executed for selling information to the US ahead of the failed nuclear arms meeting between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump, it emerged today.
The four workers, all said to be from the foreign ministry, were allegedly killed by firing squad after talks in Vietnam between the two countries broke down.
One of the four, said to have been shot dead in the capital Pyongyang earlier this month, was reportedly a diplomat from North Korea's embassy in Hanoi.
Dictator Kim, 35, blamed the failure of the summit on information leaked to the US before the meeting at the Metropole Hotel in Hanoi in February, according to Japanese news agency Asia Press.
The executions were watched by members of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and Korean People's Army, according to reports by local media.
![North Korean leader Kim Jong-un claimed four foreign ministry officials sold information to the US ahead of the February nuclear summit. He is pictured arriving at a railway station in Vladivostok, Russia, today to meet Vladimir Putin](http://web.archive.org./web/20190424203017/https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/04/24/16/12664864-6955395-image-a-129_1556118819016.jpg)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un claimed four foreign ministry officials sold information to the US ahead of the February nuclear summit. He is pictured arriving at a railway station in Vladivostok, Russia, today to meet Vladimir Putin
![Talks between Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump in Vietnam broke down without any deal on North Korea's denuclearisation being made](http://web.archive.org./web/20190424203017/https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/04/24/16/12662230-6955395-image-a-130_1556118824980.jpg)
Talks between Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump in Vietnam broke down without any deal on North Korea's denuclearisation being made
News of the alleged killings has reportedly spread from the hermit kingdom after a Japanese trade official recently returned from North Korea and spoke to a source who was said to have known about the deaths.
Despite the reports in Japanese and South Korean media the claims have not yet been verified.
News of the alleged killings comes as North Korean media reported Kim's sister, Kim Yo-jong, had been 'demoted' from at least one of her titles within the party in the wake of the failed nuclear summit, according to NK News.
Kim Jong-un’s top adviser and key negotiator with the U.S. on denuclearisation was also removed from his post earlier this month, South Korean officials said.
Kim Yong Chol, known as the leader’s most trusted policy adviser, was dropped as head of the United Front Department.
He appears to have been 'censured' after the second Trump-Kim summit failed to reach a deal on the sanctions relief Pyongyang would get in exchange for dismantling its nuclear programme.
![Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump take a walk after their first meeting at the Metropole Hanoi hotel in Hanoi in February during their failed summit](http://web.archive.org./web/20190424203017/https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/04/24/16/12665374-6955395-image-a-131_1556119515482.jpg)
Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump take a walk after their first meeting at the Metropole Hanoi hotel in Hanoi in February during their failed summit
![Kim Jong-un (centre), with his uncle Jang Song Thaek (far right), vice chairman of North Korea's National Defense Commission, and others visiting the General Satellite Control and Command Center in 2012](http://web.archive.org./web/20190424203017/https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/04/24/16/10270570-6955395-Kim_Jong_un_centre_Jang_Song_Thaek_far_right_vice_chairman_of_No-m-132_1556119822547.jpg)
Kim Jong-un (centre), with his uncle Jang Song Thaek (far right), vice chairman of North Korea's National Defense Commission, and others visiting the General Satellite Control and Command Center in 2012
Before making some of these decisions, Kim paid a visit to the birthplace of his father Kim Jong Il, in early April.
This spot near Mount Paekdu is where he goes to contemplate important political manoeuvres, according to the Korea Times.
Kim is not averse to the brutal killing of associates and family members.
In February it emerged he forced his uncle, Jang Song-thaek, to watch colleagues get blown apart with anti-aircraft guns before he was also killed by the same method in 2013, a defector from North Korea claimed.
Kim's half brother, Kim Jong-nam, was killed in a nerve-gas poisoning attack at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia, in 2017.
Two Vietnamese woman, Doan Thi Huong and Siti Aisyah, were charged with his murder after the deadly nerve agent was smeared on Kim Jong-nam's face with a cloth.
![The brazen killing of Kim Jong-nam with a toxic nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur's international airport in broad daylight in 2013 shocked the world](http://web.archive.org./web/20190424203017/https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/04/24/16/12223874-6955395-The_brazen_killing_of_Kim_Jong_Nam_with_a_toxic_nerve_agent_at_K-a-133_1556120196746.jpg)
The brazen killing of Kim Jong-nam with a toxic nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur's international airport in broad daylight in 2013 shocked the world
Both women claimed they were tricked into playing a 'prank' on him as part of a TV show and did not realise they were using a toxic substance.
During the same year at the height of his tensions with the US over missile testing, Kim was said to have executed two officials in just five days over a launch delay at a test missile site.
The unnamed executive allegedly took responsibility for setbacks at the Punggye-ri nuclear base which led to the date of a rocket launch being pushed back.
Five days earlier, a high ranking official once described as the 'second most powerful man in North Korea' disappeared from public life, sparking speculation he may have been executed by death squads.
Despite reassurances made by the dictator during Kim's first talks with Trump at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore last June, it emerged in February that North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes remain intact.
According to a UN panel of experts Pyongyang has been using airports and other buildings to shield its weapons from possible US military strikes.
Kim arrived in Vladivostok today in a heavily armoured train ahead of his meeting with Vladimir Putin tomorrow.