(SEOUL): North Korea has executed its vice premier for education, Kim Yong Jin, and has reprimanded two other high-ranking officials, South Korea said on Wednesday.

Kim Yong Chol, the influential head of the North's United Front Department which handles inter-Korean relations, was made to undergo "revolutionary measures," the South's Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said.

The South's comments follow a news report on Tuesday that said the North had executed two high-ranking officials earlier in the month for disobeying leader Kim Jong Un.

Jeong spoke at a briefing and declined to give further details.