Choe Yong-gon, vice premier of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), was executed recently for expressing disagreement with the country’s top leader Kim Jong-un over forestry policies, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Wednesday.

Choe, who was appointed as one of the seven vice premiers in June 2014, was executed by firing squad in May, Yonhap said, citing an anonymous source. DPRK has not confirmed Choe’s execution.

Choe was last seen in the DPRK state media in December, 2014, at the death anniversary of the late leader Kim Jong-il, South Korea's unification ministry said Wednesday.

Choe was deputy minister of the construction and building material industries. He represented the DPRK in trade talks in Seoul throughout the mid-2000s.