According to a South Korea media report, 63-year-old Choe Yong-gon, a North Korean vice-premier, was executed by a firing squad for disagreeing with leader Kim Jong-un's forestation policies.
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Yonhap news agency reported that anonymous sources said Tuesday that the vice-premier was executed in May of this year, but did not provide other details.
According to the BBC, Choe was last seen publicly in December, and the South Korea unification ministry, which is responsible for handling the country's relations with North Korea, said it was "closely monitoring the possibility of any changes in Choe's circumstances."
BBC reports that Choe was appointed as one of seven vice-premiers in June of last year, and his promotion was seen by some as a sign of better North-South relations.
He was deputy minister of construction and building material industries and represented North Korea in trade talks in Seoul in the mid-2000s.
About 70 officials have been killed under Kim's rule, Yonhap reports.
In April, South Korea's intelligence agency reported that North Korea had executed 15 officials, amongst them a vice minister who was killed for complaining about Kim's policy on forestation.
It is not clear if the official, who the agency reported as being killed in January, could be Choe.