Tuesday, citing a briefing from their county's intelligence service.
And two close allies of
Jang -- Lee Yong-ha and Jang Soo-kee -- have been publicly executed, one
of the South Korean lawmakers said at a news conference.
The lawmakers, including
Cho Won-jin of the governing Saenuri Party, said this after receiving
what they said was a briefing from South Korea's National Intelligence
Service.
CNN has not been able to independently confirm the report.
Jang Sung-taek was the
brother-in-law of North Korea's previous ruler and Kim's father, Kim
Jong Il. When the elder Kim died and the son succeeded him, analysts told CNN that Jang would be a power behind the throne as the younger Kim took control of the reclusive nation.
If confirmed, the move
would mark a major upheaval in North Korea's leadership since Kim
succeeded his father, who died in in 2011.
Jang was the vice chairman of North Korea's top military body and has often been pictured beside Kim.
Some have said he may
have been at the heart of an internal palace struggle, one which might
have put him even at odds with his own wife, Kim Kyong Hui, according to
a Time magazine report two years ago.
It has previously been
reported that Kim Il Sung -- father of Kim Jong Il and architect of the
North Korean state -- disapproved of Jang's marriage into the family,
according to Time.
North Korea, a state
shrouded in secrecy, is involved in a protracted standoff with its
neighbors and Western powers over its nuclear weapons program.
Tensions between North
and South Korea soared this year as Pyongyang reacted angrily to
tightened United Nations sanctions imposed in response to its latest
nuclear test.
The two sides are still technically at war after the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in a mere truce, not a treaty.
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