N Korea confirms key dismissal
North Korea has confirmed that Chang Song-thaek, a powerful uncle of North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-un, has been dismissed from his post.
Advertisement
Mr Chang had committed "criminal acts", according to the state-run KCNA news agency.
He was seen as an economic reformer and regularly handled talks with China, Pyongyang's only major ally.
His removal is the biggest upheaval in North Korea's leadership since Mr Kim succeeded his father, analysts say.
Two of his close aides have been executed for corruption, according to earlier South Korean reports.
KCNA said the decision had come after a meeting of the politburo of the ruling communist Korean Workers' Party.
"The Chang Song-thaek group... committed such anti-party, counter-revolutionary factional acts as gnawing at the unity and cohesion of the party," said reports carried in state media early on Monday.
"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."
Mr Chang has been stripped of all his positions and expelled from the party, reports said.
On Saturday, North Korean state TV was reported to have removed footage of Mr Chang from a documentary.
He had held senior posts in the ruling party and the National Defence Commission, the North's top military body.
Past disappearance
Kim Jong-un took over after Kim Jong-il died in 2011. Mr Chang is married to the elder Kim's sister.
He has often been pictured beside Kim Jong-un and was seen by some observers as the power behind the throne.
Despite his family ties to the leadership and senior status, he has been targeted in purges in the past.
In 2004, despite his place in the Kim family, he disappeared from public view.
One report at the time, citing South Korean intelligence, said Mr Chang had been placed under house arrest.
Others suggested he had been sent for "re-education". However, two years later he appeared to have been reinstated.