Kim Jong-un has had 64 'traitors' executed during 2016 according to South Korean spies

    Kim Jong-un has ordered the public execution of 64 'traitors' this year
    Killings have seen the total number of executions double to around 134
    Rise is thought to have been a result of the despot's increasing paranoia[CN]

今年金正恩下令当众处决了64位叛国者。杀死的人数总量已经翻倍到了134左右。死亡人数的飙升是这位独裁者日益增长的乖戾所致。

Despot Kim Jong-un (shown) has ordered the public execution of 64 'traitors' so far this year[CN]

独裁者金正恩（如图）今年已经下令处决了64个叛国者。

North Korea's defence minister Hyon Yong-Chol has reportedly been executed by an anti-aircraft gun in Pyongyang[CN]

北韩国防部长Hyon Yong-Chol，据报道就是在平壤被高射炮处决的。

North Korea has suffered its second failed missile test in a week as the US warned Pyongyang of an 'overwhelming' response to any use of nukes (file picture)[CN]

北韩一周内经历了第二次导弹发射失败，美国一直警告平壤对核武使用的反响过于强烈。（组图）

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (centre) inspects the ground jet test of a new type high-power engine of a carrier rocket, at the Sohae Space Centre, in September[CN]

北韩领导人金正恩（图中）在9月份到西海太空中心视察，一种新型高功率的运载火箭进行地面测试。

Despot Kim Jong-un has ordered the public execution of 64 'traitors' so far this year as he intensifies his 'reign or terror', South Korea's spy agency has revealed.[CN]

独裁者金正恩今年下命令处决了64为叛国者，为了强化自己的恐怖统治。南韩情报机关透露。

The killings in 2016 have seen the total number of executions double to around 134 since the North Korean leader  took power in 2011.[CN]

2016年的杀戮见证了处决人数飙升到134人次左右，这数字是自北韩领导接替以来的数据。

This sharp rise in the execution of officials is thought to have been a result of the despot's increasing paranoia about his personal safety, the National Intelligence Service said.

It even exceeds the bloodshed of his father's early rule, they added.

Kim had shown restraint in state-sanctioned killings in recent years after reports emerged about his uncle Jang Song Thaek being executed.

But Kim has resumed them after the United Nations imposed more sanctions on the country following its long-range rocket launch and nuclear tests.

In April last year North Korea's defence minister was publicly executed with an anti-aircraft gun for falling asleep during military meetings and answering back to Kim.

Hyon Yong-Chol, 66, who was named head of North Korea's military in 2012, was killed in front of hundreds of bloodthirsty officials at a military camp in the capital Pyongyang.

It was not the first time a ZPU-4 anti-aircraft gun has been used for executions in North Korea.

The news about the rise in executions came after North Korea suffered its second failed missile test in a week. 

An intermediate-range Musudan rocket exploded shortly after take-off at about 6.30am local time, according to South Korean and US military monitors.

It comes after US Secretary of State John Kerry stressed that any use of nuclear arms by the North would be 'met with an effective and overwhelming response'.

The attempted launch also came just hours before the start of the third US presidential debate - a timely reminder of the challenge North Korea's fast-moving nuclear weapons programme will pose to the next occupant of the White House.