North Korea has executed an envoy for failing to secure a deal with US President Donald Trump at the Trump-Kim summit in Vietnam, it is claimed.
The Chosun Ilbo newspaper reports that Kim Hyok-chol, who was in charge of negotiating the summit, was killed at Mirim Airfield after he and four other officials were investigated in March.
Kim Sung-hye, co-negotiator at the talks, and Shin Hye-yong, who interpreted for North Korea's leader in Hanoi, were also sent to political prison camps, according to the paper.
It is believed Hye-yong was accused of undermining the authority of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, by making a translation mistake.
Kim Yong-chol, who oversaw negotiations with the US, was reportedly sentenced to forced labour and ideological re-education, after talks between the two countries broke down.
Kim Hyok Chol had been negotiating with U.S. special representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun before the Hanoi summit.
South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper also reported that Kim Jong Un told his sister, Kim Yo Jong, who also took part in the summit, to keep a low profile.
The oppressive regime previously sentenced four officials to death over the failed Trump-Kim summit earlier this year, it is claimed.
The officials are said to have been killed by a firing squad in Pyongyang after Kim and Trump's talks in Vietnam broke off without a deal.
Japan's Asia Press reported that the rumours were spreading through the secretive country after it spoke to a trade official who recently visited North Korea and a source inside the hermit state.
According to the report, North Korea had accused the four officials of selling information to the US before the Hanoi summit, causing it to fail.
It is believed Kim Jong Un has launched a purge of party officials after talks broke down at the February summit in Vietnam.
The White House announced that negotiations ended after North Korea demanded sanctions against the country be dropped.
The pair first met at a summit in Singapore in June last year, resulting in a joint statement agreeing peaceful relations between the US and North Korea.
They also committed to the denuclearisation of Korea and follow-up negotiations, with Trump later vowing to end joint military exercises with South Korea in an apparent gesture of goodwill.
The North Korean tyrant then held talks with South Korea and invited the US President to take part in a second meeting.
