North Korean finance expert executed

A leading North Korean financial expert has been executed by firing squad for ruining the country's financial affairs.

Pak Nam Ki was responsible for curbing inflation but his actions saw people's savings wiped out. according to reports. It is understood his execution is an attempt to contain civil unrest.

Under 77-year-old Pak's orders, people holding old banknotes were instructed to cash them in at a rate of 100 old notes for one new one. Further hardship was imposed with a restriction on the number of old notes that could be exchanged.

But savings were wiped out and prices soared leaving thousands of North Koreans with piles of worthless currency.

The nation's leader, Kim Jong Ill ordered Pak to be sacked from his job as chief of the communist party's planning and finance department, then put on trial.

After being found guilty of ruining the national economy, he was taken to a military range in the capital, Pyongyang, and shot dead by a firing squad, according to reports.