North Korea reportedly executed former finance official Pak Nam-gi, who was held responsible for the failed currency reform late last year amid growing public unrest over the faltering economy.

The former director of financial planning under the Workers' Party was executed by a firing squad in Pyongyang last week on charges of treason for "intentionally ruining the national economy," but most North Koreans believed he was made a scapegoat, Yonhap News said citing multiple sources.

South Korea's Unification Ministry said it was unable to officially confirm the report. Seoul customarily refrains from confirming anything concerning the Pyongyang government unless the North makes an official announcement.

"The failure of the currency reform caused social unrest and had a negative impact on Kim Jong-il regime's father-to-son succession, so Pyongyang blamed it all on Pak," an unnamed source was quoted as saying by Yonhap News.

"Pak's case is reminiscent of Suh Gwan-hui, former Workers' Party secretary of agriculture, who was executed during the severe famine in the 1990s."

The North charged him of espionage and had him shot to death in front of tens of thousands of people in 1997 when the nation was suffering a murderous famine often referred to as the "arduous march."

The North reportedly described Pak as "a landlord's son who snuck into the revolutionary ranks to intentionally wreck the economy."

Pak had served as Kim Jong-il's key economic aide and accompanied Kim on "guidance trips" to the country's production facilities until early January.

Pak was reportedly arrested and interrogated by authorities after receiving harsh criticism in a debate session of senior Workers' Party officials in mid-January.

Free North Korea Radio, a short-wave radio broadcaster run by defectors from the North also said yesterday that rumors of Pak's execution were spreading from Pyongyang to other parts of the country.

A Japanese news report said last month that the North fired Pak in January, blaming him for the failed currency redenomination measure that resulted in inflation and a serious shortage of food.

With no public notice, the North knocked two zeros off the face value of its old currency on Nov. 30, exchanging 100-won bills for new 1-won notes. It placed a cap on the amount of money that could be converted per person, telling people to deposit the rest in state-run banks.

The measure, which was aimed at emasculating the growing merchant class and reasserting control over market activities, tightened the distribution of food and stirred anti-regime sentiment.

Some observers here say the alleged execution of Pak could be aimed at saving Kim Jong-il's face by shifting the blame to the former director.