Another purge? North Korea leader Kim Jong Un jails leader no. 2

Zee Media Bureau/Supriya Jha

London: Just three months after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered a brutal purge of his uncle, reports have emerged hinting that another leader, said to be the second most powerful leader Choe Ryong Hae has disappeared and is in jail.

According to the Daily Mail, the South Korean government said that it was investigating the reports that North Korea`s number two leader Ryong Hae was in jail for interrogation.

The matter was being looked into by South Korea’s Unification ministry, the report added.

Ryong Hae is said to be holding the same position as that of Kim Jong Un`s uncle Jang Song Thaek, who was executed last year in December.

Jang, 67, was accused of plotting to topple the communist regime.

Unconfirmed rumours have it that Kim`s uncle was stripped naked and fed to 120 dogs. The horrifying account of his execution was reported by Singapore`s Strait Times, which cited a December 12 story in a Chinese government-controlled newspaper.

Further reports had said that the North Korean regime carried out "extensive executions" of Jang Song-thaek`s entire family, not sparing even children. 
`Some relatives were shot to death by pistol in front of other people if they resisted while being dragged out of their apartment homes,` the Daily Mail had quoted South Korea`s Yonhap agency.