Sometime in early January — nobody seems to know quite when — North Korean intelligence official Ryu Kyong disappeared, apparently executed.

The number two man, and perhaps de facto number one man, in the State Security Department and a longtime Kim Jon-il ally, Ryu was reportedly “summoned by Kim Jong-il in early January and on his way to Kim’s residence, was arrested by members of the General Guard Bureau. He was interrogated and secretly executed.”

Speculative reason: the Leader viewed Ryu as having grown too powerful, and therefore as a potential rival to a clean succession for Kim Jong-un.

“With Ryu, many others were purged at the State Security Department,” a Seoul analyst said. “We can say that as he gained control of the department, Kim Jong-un needed to give jobs to people loyal to him.”

On this day..

• 1879: Juan Oliva Moncusi, attempted regicide
• 1745: William Hook
• 1957: Geza Szivos
• 1944: Kaj Munk, Danish pastor-poet
• 1794: Nicolas Luckner, German marshal of France
• 1568: Eighty-four Valenciennes iconoclasts
• 1943: "Native parachutists" in Morocco
• 1897: The Bicol martyrs of Philippines independence
• 1721: John Stewart, pirate
• 1943: Jerzy Iwanow (Georgios Ivanof)
• 1946: The treacherous Theodore Schurch
• 838: Babak Khorramdin