Hyon Yong Chol, the top general of North Korea, who recently gave a speech in the Moscow International Symposium last month, was reportedly executed with an antiaircraft gun, as hundreds of other generals and top ranking officials looked on, according to the New York Times.

The top general's government position was at par with a defense minister.

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The horrifying execution of the general Hyon Yong Chol last April 30 was narrated by the South Korea National Intelligence Service, according to the South Korean lawmakers, who had a discreet meeting with the secret service last Wednesday.

However, this news may be deemed as authentic but some analysts perceive it as questionable. The question was also raised about the spy agency's motive in releasing the information.

Hyon, the executed general, was still seen and photographed with the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in an official propaganda film broadcast last week.

However, North Korea's government is notorious for deleting 'executed' people's names and pictures on official records to avoid suspicion.

The officials of the National Intelligence Service insisted that their information was authentic enough to be imparted to the Parliament, but they did not point out a specific source from where the information came from.

Last 2013, the service accurately predicted the impending execution of Kim Jong Un's uncle, Jang Song-Thaek for the charges of treason.

If Hyon was indeed executed, this would be another addition to the top government officials disposed since Jang's execution.

South Korean analysts and informants from the service clashed on different perceptions and predictions in Korea's 'hermit kingdom.'

However, the two teams agreed on the idea that the succeeding purge of high ranking officials in North Korea in the past few years signifies another humiliation of the once noble North Korean People's Army.

The analysts stated that the army has suffered a series of low blows since Kim Jong Un took his place in leadership of North Korea.

"It could mean cracks developing in the solidarity of the Pyongyang regime or another proof that Kim Jong Un is consolidating power," said Koh Yu-hwan, a veteran North Korea specialist.

Purges of the government system have been long practiced since the regime of Kim Il-Sung, the founder president of North Korea.

His successor, Kim Jong-Il, Kim Jong-Un's father, did not execute these purges partly for the reason that he merged power for himself for the past decades.

He impartially combined the old and new generation of officials and even urged the retention of octogenarian royalists who were appointed during Kim Il-Sung's term.

When Kim Jong-Il suffered a stroke last 2008, Kim Jong-Un was fast-tracked to becoming the highest ranking official in the government with no gradual grooming.

The North Korean People's Army, enjoyed privileges of "military first" during the previous regimes, thus bearing the burden of Kim Jong-Un's desire to consolidate his power.

This gap among the generals and Kim Jong-Un can be seen in photographs that show older generals pretending to write down the words of the young leader.

General Hyon, speculated to be seen napping during a military conference, was the inevitable factor for his doomed fate.

TagsNorth Korea, Executed, top general, speculations arise