North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has ordered the execution of 15 senior officials already this year, according to South Korea's intelligence agency.
Among those killed were four senior members of Pyongyang's famous Unhasu Orchestra, where Kim's wife, Ri Sol Ju, had been a singer before she married him in June 2012.
The group were shot by firing squad on spying charges, South Korean intelligence chiefs have reported.
A vice minister was also executed for questioning state policy on forestry, while another official of similar rank was executed in February for opposing Kim's plans for a new building in the shape of a flower named after his grandfather, North Korean founder Kim Il-Sung.
The details emerged in a secret briefing to the South Korean parliament's intelligence committee.
Committee member Shin Kyung-min, who quoted an unnamed intelligence officer, said: "Excuses or reasoning doesn't work for Kim Jong-Un, and his style of rule is to push through everything, and if there's any objection, he takes that as a challenge to authority and comes back with execution as a showcase.
"In the four months this year, 15 senior officials are said to have been executed."
In 2013, Kim purged and executed his uncle, General Jang Song Thaek, once considered the second most powerful man in Pyongyang's leadership circle, after he was branded a traitor and accused of a string of alleged crimes.
Kim has repeatedly reshuffled close aides and senior officials since taking office.
The North Korean leader is also expected to travel to Moscow in the coming weeks to attend an event marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Europe, although there was no independent confirmation of the plan.
The visit would be Kim's first overseas trip since he took power in 2011 following the death of his father.
Russia has said Kim would attend the 9 May event, which is being shunned by South Korea, US President Barack Obama and many other European leaders.
However, the Chinese President Xi Jinping and the heads of many former Soviet republics are expected to attend.
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