'More Than 30 N.Korean Officials Purged'

More than 30 officials were executed in North Korea last year to consolidate new leader Kim Jong-un's grip on power, international human rights watchdog Amnesty International said Tuesday.

"We received unconfirmed reports that North Korean authorities had either executed by firing squad or killed in staged traffic accidents 30 officials who had participated in inter-Korean talks or supervised bilateral dialogues with South Korea," Amnesty International said.

"In January 2011 unconfirmed reports also said that more than 200 officials had been detained by state security officials in a move to consolidate the leadership succession of Kim Jong-un," it added. There were concerns that "some of them had been already executed," the watchdog said.