North Korean tyrant Kim Jong-un has long been suspected of ordering gruesome executions of those who have opposed him.
Reports emerged this month that he threw one of his generals into a tank of flesh-eating piranhas after being accused of planning a coup.
The un-named general had his arms and torso cut open with knives before being tossed in, according to sources.
It is thought Kim Jong-un drew inspiration from the 1977 James Bond movie 'The Spy Who Loved Me' in which villain Helga Brandt is devoured by piranhas as a punishment for not killing 007.
The dictator's methods are often inspired by Hollywood movies, according to Dr John Hemmings, who briefs the UK Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence on Asia related matters.
He told The Sun dictators such as Kim view purges as “a necessary exercise” to maintain their ruthless grip on power.
Since coming into power in 2011 Kim Jong-un has been accused of offing people using extremely harrowing methods.
Mirror Online reveals some of the macabre methods used against his enemies.
Blown up by anti-aircraft guns
Defector Hee Yeon Lim said in 2017 she was forced to watch a group of 11 musicians being viciously executed by anti-aircraft guns at a football stadium after they were accused of making a p*rnographic video.
She claims after they were obliterated by the weaponry their body parts 'ground into dirt' by tanks.
She said: “A gun was fired, the noise was deafening, absolutely terrifying and the guns were fired one after the other. The musicians just disappeared each time the guns were fired into them. Their bodies were blown to bits, totally destroyed, blood and bits flying everywhere.
“And then after that military tanks moved in and they ran over the bits on the ground where the remains lay."
US satellite images from 2014 appear to give credibility to Miss Yeon Lim's claims.
The images show six Soviet-made anti-aircraft machine guns pointing at a number of people only 100ft away.
What's more, a defence chief was put to death by anti-aircraft gunfire in 2015 because he fell asleep at a military event
It is understood that hundreds of state officials watched the grisly scene.
Death by firing squad and fed to dogs
Kim Jong-un has been accused of killing many of his officials by firing squad.
In April this year, he is said to have four officials from the country's foreign ministry killed by a firing squad in Pyongyang after Kim's talks with Trump's in Vietnam broke off without a deal.
According to a Japenese press agency, North Korea had accused the four officials of selling information to the US before the Hanoi summit, causing it to fail.
Kim Jong-un's uncle Jang Song Thaek was described as the second most powerful figure in North Korea . He was also married to Kim's aunt.
After a military show trial, Uncle Jang was executed by firing squad in December 2013 by Kim.
He was accused of an array of charges including treason and corruption.
It was also claimed he pursued a “decadent capitalist lifestyle”, squandering £3million in 2009, some in a foreign casino, and that he was involved in a disagreement about a tile mosaic in honour of Communist North Korea’s founding fathers.
His body was allegedly fed to starving dogs, although that report was later cast in doubt.
Poisoning
According to official reports, Jang Song Thaek's wife Kim Kyong Hui -and Kim Jong-un's aunt died in November 2014, aged 68, from a stroke during an argument about her husband’s execution in May 2014.
But a defector claimed that Kim ordered her to be poisoned after she complained about how he was killed and then ordered the remaining seven members of Jang's family to be executed.
Along with her demise, it's said Kim ordered the rest of Jang's family, around seven members, to be put to death.
Killed by a flame thrower
A top official was allegedly killed with a flame thrower in 2014.
O Sang Hon, a deputy minister at the Ministry of Public Security was said to have been executed because he had followed Jang Song Thaek's instructions to turn the ministry into a personal security division to help safeguard his business dealings.
Kang Chol-hwan, a North Korean defector corroborated reports of the death of O Sang Hon, saying: “Kim Jong Un personally hated him, so he personally ordered him to be executed by a flamethrower.
Poisoned in an airport
Kim Jong-nam died after being attacked with a nerve agent at Kuala Lumpar International Airport in Malasia.
While his death is regarded officially as an assassination, it is thought of by many as a public execution.
It is believed his death was ordered by his half-brother Kim Jong-un although this has not been proven.
Four North Korean suspects left the airport shortly after the assassination and left Korea without being arrested.
Two women were charged on the murder of the playboy prince by smearing his face with VX nerve agent, the most lethal chemical weapon known to Man.
They were also charged with colluding with the North Koreans.
They claimed they thought they were part of a TV prank after being charged with his murder.
One of the women was released from prison earlier this year.
Siti Aisyah was freed after prosecutors withdrew charges and the judge granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.
The second suspected murderer, Doan Thi Huong, from Vietnam, was also released and left Malaysia earlier this month.
