North Korea's Kim Jong-un 'was target of assassination attempt' .
Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, was the target of an assassination attempt linked to a power struggle within one of the nation's military bureaus, according to reports.
South Korean intelligence sources were quoted as saying that "disgruntled people inside the North" moved ahead of the demotion of Kim Yong-chol, director of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, in November.
Authorities were paying special attention because the attempt was made in downtown Pyongyang, not during one of Kim's regional trips outside the capital city, the intelligence officer told the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper on Thursday.
The precise timing of the attack has not been accurately established, although there were rumours of a skirmish involving an exchange of gunfire in Pyongyang in November of last year.
It has also proved difficult to identify who was behind the incident, with the intelligence official suggesting it was linked to the punishment meted out to General Kim.
A known hawk and a close ally of Kim Jong-un, General Kim earned a reputation for being an aggressive military leader who was behind the sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan in March 2010, which Pyongyang still denies involvement in.
Surprised they haven't issused a statement like: "We have in hand several signed confessions by key tortured generals and other traitors that will prove that certain western imperialist nations were behind this coup and they will not go unpunished for this act of cowardice".