They were identified them as defence chief Pak Yong-sik; Ri Myong-su, chief of the Korean People’s Army’s (KPA) general staff; and Kim Jong-gak, director of the KPA’s General Political Bureau
NORTH KOREA
June 3, 2018
North Korea’s top three military officials have been removed from their posts, a senior US official said on Sunday, as US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un prepare to meet on June 12 in Singapore. The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was commenting on a report by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency that all three of the North’s top military officials were believed to have been replaced.
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The official did not identify the three men, but Yonhap identified them as defence chief Pak Yong-sik; Ri Myong-su, chief of the Korean People’s Army’s (KPA) general staff; and Kim Jong-gak, director of the KPA’s General Political Bureau. US officials believe there was some dissension in the military about Kim’s approaches to South Korea and the United States.
Trump wants North Korea to “denuclearise”, meaning to get rid of its nuclear arsenal, in return for relief from economic sanctions. North Korea’s leadership is believed to regard nuclear weapons as crucial to its survival. Citing an unnamed intelligence official, Yonhap said No Kwang-chol, first vice-minister of the Ministry of People’s Armed Forces, had replaced Pak Yong-sik as defence chief, while Ri Myong-su was replaced by his deputy, Ri Yong-gil.
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It said Army General Kim Su-gil’s replacement of Kim Jong-gak as director of the KPA’s General Political Bureau was confirmed in a North Korean state media report last month. All of the newly promoted officials are younger than their predecessors, according to Yonhap, especially Ri Yong-gil, 63, who is 21 years younger than Ri Myong-su. “This points to two things: the consolidation of Kim Jong-un’s power as the sole leader of North Korea and strengthened cooperation between the North’s party and military as the country works towards further economic development,” said Yang Moo-ji, professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. “They’re all young but capable people,” Yang added.
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That official said US negotiators’ efforts to press for definitions of immediate, comprehensive, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation by North Korea had run into opposition from the White House. In a remarkable shift in tone eight days after cancelling the summit, citing Pyongyang’s “open hostility”, Trump welcomed North Korea’s former intelligence chief, Kim Yong-chol, to the White House on Friday, and exchanged smiles and handshakes with him afterwards.
South China Morning Post
