Hyon was executed because he expressed discontent towards leader Kim Jong Un, and failed to follow Kim's orders on several occasions, according to Kim Gwang-lim, chairman of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee and a lawmaker with the Saenuri Party who attended the briefing. However, on Friday, an official with South Korea's NIS told CNN that while the agency was sure Hyon had been "purged," it had not confirmed whether he had been executed.
The reports are impossible to independently verify due to North Korea's strict control over information coming in and out of the country.