Seoul, May 13 (IANS): North Korea has publicly executed the country's defence minister after the regime accused him of treason, said a media report.

Hyon Yong-chol, the chief of North Korea's People's Armed Forces, was executed by firing squad using an anti-aircraft gun at a military school in Pyongyang around April 30, Yonhap News Agency reported quoting South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) on Wednesday.

Hyon was seen dozing off during a military event and did not carry out North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's instructions, an NIS senior official agency said.

The intelligence agency also gave a similar briefing to lawmakers in a closed-door parliamentary session on Wednesday.

Hyon was named as the armed forces chief in June 2014, the number two man within the North Korea military after Hwang pyong-so, director of the general political department of the Korean People's Army (KPA).

North Korea has not announced its purge of Hyon yet.

According to the NIS, North Korea has executed another 15 senior officials this year.