SEOUL (AFP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's uncle, Jang Song Thaek, long seen as his nephew's political regent, has been removed from his top military post and some of his associates executed, South Korean media reported on Tuesday.

Yonhap news agency and the YTN news channel cited South Korean intelligence sources as saying that Jang, a long-time powerbroker within the North's ruling Kim dynasty, had been removed as vice chairman of the country's top military body, the National Defence Commission.