North Korean leader's uncle 'executed over corruption'

the once-powerful uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been executed after being purged for corruption, state news agency KCNA reports.

Chang Song-thaek was dramatically removed from a Communist Party session by armed guards earlier this week.
It was the biggest upheaval since Mr Kim succeeded his father two years ago.
KCNA said Mr Chang had admitted at a military trial on Thursday to attempting to overthrow the state, and was executed immediately.
Mr Chang, who had mentored his nephew during the leadership transition from Kim Jong-il to his son Kim Jong-un in 2011, was "worse than a dog", said the agency.
He had admitted abusing his positions of responsibility to form a faction against the state and to harbouring his own political ambitions, it said.

Almost overnight, Chang Song-thaek morphed from uncle and mentor to North Korea's young leader to 'anti-revolutionary' criminal outcast”

Mr Chang - married to the elder Kim's sister - had held senior posts in the ruling party and the National Defence Commission, the North's top military body.

He was frequently pictured alongside his nephew and seen by some observers as the power behind the throne.
In the US, the White House said it could not independently verify the reports but had "no reason to doubt" them.
"If confirmed, this is another example of the extreme brutality of the North Korean regime. We are following developments in North Korea closely and consulting with our allies and partners in the region," it said in a statement.
'Ideologically sick' But in early December, it emerged that he had been removed from his senior military position and that two of his aides had been executed.
Then on Monday, KCNA broadcast footage of him being removed from a party session by uniformed guards.

• Born 1946; marries Kim Jong-il's sister in 1972
• Joins Korean Workers' Party administrative ranks in 1970s
• Elected to Central Committee in 1992
• Sidelined in 2004, but rehabilitated in 2006
• 2011: Gets top military post under Kim Jong-un
• Nov 2013: Dismissed from his position
• December 2013: Executed as a "traitor"

"Chang pretended to uphold the party and leader but was engrossed in such factional acts as dreaming different dreams and involving himself in double-dealing behind the scenes," the agency reported at the time

It accused him being "ideologically sick and extremely idle and easy-going", of using drugs while receiving medical treatment overseas, of having "improper relations" with women, of financial mismanagement, and leading "a dissolute and depraved life".
Analysts say his fall from grace could be seen as the latest in a series of carefully calibrated moves to demonstrate Kim Jong-un's authority and an assertion of his independence
The BBC's Lucy Williamson in Seoul says there are various theories surrounding Mr Chang's demise, including suggestions that his work with China had led him to admire some of Beijing's economic reforms.
But it is more likely that he presented a perceived threat to his nephew's authority, says our correspondent.
Mr Chang was purged once before in 2004, and disappeared from public life for a while, but it is clear that this time North Korea's leaders wanted to publically humiliate and execute him to ensure he can never come back, she adds.
As news of the purge emerged earlier this week, South Korean President Park Geun-hye warned the North was "carrying out a reign of terror" to reinforce Mr Kim's position.
She said the volatile relationship between the two countries was likely to become "more unstable" as a result.