21 July 2010 :

North Korea executed a former Cabinet official over policy failures. Kwon Ho Ung, Pyongyang's chief delegate from 2004 to 2007 for ministerial talks with the South's government, was executed by firing squad, Seoul's mass-circulation Dong-a Ilbo newspaper said, citing an unidentified source in Beijing.
Calls to South Korea's intelligence agency and the Unification Ministry, which handles relations with North Korea, seeking comment went unanswered.
The newspaper report said it had not confirmed when and where Kwon was executed.