In an image taken from footage shown by North Korea's KCTV and released by South Korea's Yonhap news agency on December 9, 2013, Jang Song-Thaek is reportedly being dragged away from his chair by two police officials during a meeting in Pyongyang. North Korea confirmed on December 9 that the powerful uncle of Kim Jong-Un, the nation's leader, had been removed. New reports from North Korea say that Jang has been executed. 
Chinese President Hu Jintao, right, greets Jang in Beijing on August 17, 2012. Jang met China's President and Premier in an effort to improve the relations between the two countries after Kim Jong Un irked Beijing with a rocket launch soon after taking power. 
Kim Jong Un walks past his uncle after reviewing a parade of thousands of soldiers commemorating the 70th birthday of the late Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang on February 16, 2012. 
Jang attends a meeting on developing the economic zones in North Korea, in Beijing, on August 14, 2012. 
Jang follows Kim Jong Un during the funeral procession for Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang on December 28, 2011. 
Jang is seen with Kim Jong Il, right, and Naguib Sawiris, center, the executive chairman of Cairo-based Orascom Telecom, at an undisclosed place in North Korea on January 23, 2011. 
Jang, far right, appeared with Kim Jong Il and other officials during an inspection of the Mt. Ryongak Recreation Ground in Pyongyang, in an image released on January 18, 2009, by the official Korean Central News Agency. - NEW: Jang is accused of having squandered at least 4.6 million euros in 2009 alone
- "This is a stunning development," says North Korea expert
- He was married to Kim's aunt and had served as vice chairman of the top military body
(CNN) -- An uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been executed for trying to overthrow the government, the Korean Central News Agency reported early Friday.
"Traitor Jang Song Thaek Executed" blared the headline posted by the state-run news agency about the man who, until recently, had been regarded as the nation's second-most powerful figure.
The story said that a special military tribunal had been held Thursday against the "traitor for all ages," who was accused of trying to overthrow the state "by all sorts of intrigues and despicable methods."
It added, "All the crimes committed by the accused were proved in the course of hearing and were admitted by him."
Once his guilt was established, Jang was immediately executed, it said.
Report: Kim Jong Un's uncle executed 
North Korea leader's uncle executed 
North Korean citizens bow before the portraits of the founding father Kim Il-Sung, left, and his son Kim Jong-Il, in Pyongyang, North Korea on Monday, April 9, 2012. April 15 marked the 100-year anniversary of the founder's birth and journalists were allowed inside the country. 
North Korean technicians check the Unha-3 rocket at Tangachai-ri space center on Sunday, April 8. 
A controller is seen from the window of a train along the railway on the west coast Sunday. A controversial missile launch is expected to take place in the coming days. Pyongyang insists it has no bad intentions and invited foreign journalists to view its launch site. 
Citizens dance on Monday during a rehearsal for the commemoration of Kim Il-Sung's 100th birthday anniversary. Japan, the United States and South Korea see the launch -- which would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions -- as a cover for a long-range ballistic missile test. And a South Korean intelligence report says it's likely to precede a nuclear test, as it did in 2006 and 2009. 
North Korean soldiers are seen from the window of a train along the railway heading from Pyongyang to the North Pyongan Province on the west coast. 
A woman plays the piano and entertains in a downtown Pyongyang restaurant. U.S. President Obama said the real consequence for North Korea, should it go through with the launch, is that the country's leaders will miss an opportunity. "I hope that at some point the North Koreans make the decision that it is in their interests to figure out how to feed their people and improve their economy rather than have big parades where they show off weapons," he said in March. 
Two women on the the train prepare food for the journalists traveling across the country. 
The dress rehearsal for the celebration continues in the capital. 
A pin with the face of Kim Il-Sung is affixed to the uniform of a North Korean soldier standing guard at the space center in Pyongyang on Wednesday, April 11. 
A woman ties the branches of apple trees on a farm near Pyongyang on Tuesday, April 10. 
Workers and farms are seen through the window of a train as it passes through the country. 
Bicycles line the road as citizens work the land between Pyongyang and the North Phyongan province. 
A North Korean soldier is seen from the window of a train as he walks near a small town along the railway heading from Pyongyang to the North Pyongan Province on the west coast. 
Employees work in a textile factory in Pyongyang. 
People line the street as they wait for a bus. 
A dance troupe performs during the opening ceremony of the Spring Arts Festival in Pyongyang. 
A band performs during the opening of the Spring Arts Festival. 
A building adorned with a huge portrait of the late president Kim Il-Sung is cleaned by workers in Pyongyang. 
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Photos: A glimpse inside North Korea 
A stern looking North Korean guard by the Chinese border customs office. This image was deleted by North Korean officials. 
Writer Johan Nylander and his guide, Ko Chang Ho, watch as a North Korean guard deletes 90 photos deemed unacceptable. Nylander was able to recover the photos with the help of an IT specialist -- the images that follow are an edited selection. 
This propaganda monument of "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-Il by a countryside road, not far from the border to China, was deleted by authorities. North Korea required images of leaders be full body shots. 
People standing by the train track, while a guard is monitoring the bike race. 
In the city of Rason, people are leaning out of windows to get a glimpse of the Western cyclists. 
A woman and a man walking by the side of the road lined with cornfields. 
Villagers waving by the race path. 
Guards and custom officials by the border to China. 
By the border checkpoint next to the Tumen River, North Korean customs officials can play volleyball. Officials prohibited any photos of North Korean military bases. 
Peasants and villagers standing by the road to look at the Western cyclists 
Guard keeping an eye on the bikers next to a small village. 
Kids playing outside village houses. 
Spectators waiting for the bikers to reach the finish line. In the background the "Great" and "Dear Leaders" Kim Il Sung and his son, Kim Jong-Il. 
Huge crowds -- some of whom standing on their own bikes -- as they await cyclists by the race finish line in Rason. 
Custom official and tourist bureau guide checking foreigners' passports. 
Guides from the local tourist bureau handing out water bottles to bikers, monitored by a guard in the background. 
Journalist Johan Nylander and his North Korean guide, Ko Chang Ho. EDITOR'S NOTE: This image was not among those deleted by North Korean officials. 
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Expand: The photos N. Korea banned 
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects a military factory in this undated picture released by the Korean Central News Agency on Friday, May 17. North Korea launched several short-range guided missiles into the sea off the Korean Peninsula's east coast May 18, South Korea's semi-official news agency Yonhap cited the South Korean Defense Ministry as saying. 
Kim Jong Un visits the Ministry of People's Security on Wednesday, May 1, as part of the country's May Day celebrations. 
A North Korea soldier gestures to stop photographers from taking photos from a Chinese tour boat as other soldiers look on along the North Korean bank of the Yalu River near the town of Sinuiji across the Chinese city of Dandong in Liaoning province, China, on Saturday, April 6. 
North Korean soldiers gather by the docks in Sinuiju near the Chinese border on Thursday, April 4. 
North Korean soldiers patrol along the Yalu River in Sinuiju across the border from the Chinese city of Dandong on April 4. 
Kim Jong Un is briefed by his generals in this undated photo. On the wall is a map titled "Plan for the strategic forces to target mainland U.S." 
Kim Jong Un works during a briefing in this undated photo. 
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects drills by the Korean People's Army navy at an undisclosed location on North Korea's east coast on March 25 in a photo from the state-run Korean Central News Agency. 
Kim makes his way to an observation post with North Korean soldiers on March 25. 
Kim uses a pair of binoculars to look south from the Jangjae Islet Defense Detachment near South Korea's Taeyonphyong Island on March 7. 
Kim is greeted by the family of a soldier as he inspects Jangjae Islet Defense Detachment near South Korea's Taeyonphyong Island in South Hwanghae province on Thursday, March 7, in a photo from the state-run Korean Central News Agency. 
Kim is surrounded by soldiers during a visit to the Mu Islet Hero Defense Detachment near South Korea's Taeyonphyong Island on March 7. North Korea has escalated its bellicose rhetoric, threatening nuclear strikes, just before the U.N. Security Council passed tougher sanctions against the secretive nation on March 7. 
Kim arrives at Jangjae Islet by boat to meet with soldiers of the Jangjae Islet Defense Detachment near Taeyonphyong Island in South Hwanghae province on March 7. 
Soldiers in the North Korean army train at an undisclosed location on March 6. 
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, poses with chiefs of branch social security stations in this undated picture released by North Korea's official news agency on November 27. 
Kim celebrates with staff from the satellite control center in Pyongyang, North Korea, during the launch of a rocket carrying a satellite, in a photo released by the official North Korean news agency on December 12. 
A crowd watches as statues of the nation's founder, Kim Il Sung, and his son Kim Jong Il are unveiled during a ceremony in Pyongyang on April 13, 2012. Photos from North Korea are rare, but the country was on full display in April 2012 as it celebrated the 100th birthday of Kim Il Sung. 
A North Korean soldier stands guard in front of an UNHA III rocket at the Tangachai-ri Space Center on April 8, 2012. 
In April 2012, Pyongyang launched a long-range rocket, which broke apart and fell into the sea. The UNHA III rocket is pictured on its launch pad in Tang Chung Ri, North Korea. 
A closer look at the UNHA III rocket on its launch pad in Tang Chung Ri, North Korea. 
A military vehicle participates in a parade in Pyongyang on April 15, 2012. 
North Koreans wave flags in front of portraits of Kim Il Sung, left, and his son Kim Jong Il during celebrations to mark the 100th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang on April 16, 2012. 
North Korean soldiers relax at the end of an official ceremony attended by leader Kim Jong Un at a stadium in Pyongyang on April 14, 2012. 
Kim Jong Un applauds as he watches a military parade in Pyongyang on April 15, 2012. 
A North Korean soldier stands on a balcony in Pyongyang on April 16, 2012. 
North Korean soldiers march during a military parade in Pyongyang on April 15, 2012. 
Soldiers board a bus outside a theater in Pyongyang on April 16, 2012. 
North Korean performers sit below a screen showing images of leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on April 16, 2012. 
North Korean soldiers salute during a military parade in Pyongyang on April 15, 2012. 
Kim Jong Un visits the Rungna People's Pleasure Ground, which is under construction in Pyongyang, in a photo released on July 3, 2012, by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. 
North Korean soldiers listen to a speech during an official ceremony attended by leader Kim Jong Un at a stadium in Pyongyang on April 14, 2012. 
Members of a North Korean military band gather following an official ceremony at the Kim Il Sung stadium in Pyongyang on April 14, 2012. 
North Korean military personnel watch a performance in Pyongyang on April 16, 2012. 
A North Korean controller is seen along the railway line between Pyongyang and North Pyongan province on April 8, 2012. 
A North Korean military honor guard stands at attention at Pyongyang's airport during a diplomatic visit on May 2, 2001. 
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Photos: Kim Jong Un's military The KCNA report described Jang as "despicable human scum" and "worse than a dog," and said he had betrayed his party and leader.
"This is a stunning development," Marcus Noland, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told CNN on Thursday. "I've been following North Korea for 20 years and I do not remember them ever publicly announcing the execution of a senior leader. You hear rumors about it, but this theatrical arrest earlier in the week and now this execution are unprecedented."
He added, "The regime, I think, is trying to intimidate anyone that might have independent ideas or harbor any ambitions."
KCNA's report comes days after Jang was removed from his military post.
Jang, who was married to Kim's aunt, had served as vice chairman of North Korea's top military body and had often been pictured beside the 30-year-old leader, who has ruled North Korea since his father's death in 2011.
In Washington, a State Department official acknowledged having seen the report. "While we cannot independently verify this development, we have no reason to doubt the official KCNA report," Deputy Spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement.
"If confirmed, this is another example of the extreme brutality of the North Korean regime. We are following developments in North Korea closely and consulting with our allies and partners in the region," Harf added.
John Park, a Northeast Asia analyst at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, said this week that some saw Jang's ouster "as perhaps the last part of the power consolidation phase, that Kim Jong Un has in fact removed all of the old guard close to his father and is now finalizing the inserting of his own inner group."
Kim accused Jang and his allies of double-dealing behind the scene, "dreaming different dreams" and selling the country's resources at cheap prices, thereby threatening North Korea's economic development, according to a KCNA statement this week.
"Jang desperately worked to form a faction within the party by creating illusion about him and winning those weak in faith and flatterers to his side," the statement said.
The statement scolded Jang for womanizing, drug use, gambling, eating at expensive restaurants and undergoing medical treatment in a foreign country.
Friday's KCNA report accused Jang of having distributed pornographic pictures among his confidants and having taken at least 4.6 million euros (US $6.3 million) "from his secret coffers and squandered it in 2009 alone."
How does North Korea make money?
Two allies of Jang -- Lee Yong-ha and Jang Soo-kee -- were recently executed, South Korean lawmakers told reporters prior to Friday's report.
The lawmakers, including Cho Won-jin of the governing Saenuri Party, said they had received a briefing from South Korea's National Intelligence Service. CNN has not been able to independently confirm the report.
North Korea, a state shrouded in secrecy, has been involved in a protracted standoff with its neighbors and Western powers over its nuclear weapons program.
Tensions between North Korea and South Korea soared this year as Pyongyang reacted angrily to tightened United Nations sanctions imposed in response to its latest nuclear test.
The two sides are still technically at war after the Korean conflict, which began in 1950, ended in 1953 in a truce, not a treaty.
It has previously been reported that Kim Il Sung -- the late father of Kim Jong Il and architect of the North Korean state -- disapproved of Jang's marriage into the family, according to Time Magazine.
Opinion: How Kim Jong Un got rid of his uncle
CNN's Elise Labott contributed to this report
