According to South Korea’s chief spy agency, the head of North Korea’s military was publicly executed by anti-aircraft gun late last month for disobeying Kim Jong Un and falling asleep during a meeting, the BBC reports.

On Wednesday morning, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service briefed lawmakers on the death of Hyon Yong-Chol, appointed as North Korea’s defense minister last year. From Reuters:

Hyon, last known to have spoken publicly at a security conference in Moscow in April, was said to have shown disrespect to Kim by dozing off at a military event, the Seoul lawmakers said, citing the agency briefing.

Hyon was believed to have voiced complaints against Kim Jong Un and had not followed his orders several times, according to the lawmakers. He was arrested late last month and executed three days later without legal proceedings, the NIS said.

Coming from secretive North Korea, there is no way to independently verify the report.

Last month, the NIS reported that Kim Jong Un had executed 15 people this year, including two vice-ministers and four members of the Unhasu orchestra. Asked about the claim by CNN, a top North Korean official dismissed the allegations as “malicious slander.”

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