Kerry: N. Korean leader ‘ruthless and reckless’

Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday said reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s uncle was executed “tells us a lot .. about how ruthless and reckless he is.”

“It also tells us a lot about how insecure he is,” Kerry said in an interview broadcast on ABC’s “This Week.”

{mosads}Earlier this month, the secretive North Korean regime confirmed Sunday that Jang Song Thaek had been dismissed from his government post for unspecified “criminal acts.”

“This is not the first execution,” Kerry said. “There have been a significant number of executions … over the last months which we’re aware of.”

“It really reminded me of the video we saw of Sadam Hussein doing the same thing, having people plucked out of an audience.”

Kerry added that suggestions that U.S. officials have abandoned Robert Levinson, an American missing in Iran who reportedly worked for the CIA, are “simply incorrect.”

“The fact is that I have personally raised the issue, not only at the highest level that I have been involved with, but also through other intermediaries,” Kerry said.