NK military chief loses all his posts
Source: Agencies |
July 17, 2012, Tuesday
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Print Edition
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North Korea's top military official - a key mentor to young new leader Kim Jong Un who served under his father - has been removed from all posts because of illness, state media said yesterday in a surprise announcement that shakes the core of the country's power structure.
The decision to dismiss 69-year-old Ri Yong Ho from his military and political posts was made at a Workers' Party meeting on Sunday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. It was not immediately clear who would take Ri's place, and the dispatch did not elaborate on his condition or future.
Daniel Pinkston, a North Korea analyst at the International Crisis Group, was skeptical of the illness claim, in part because of Ri's recent apparent health. He also said Ri won his major promotions at a September 2010 party conference but received none in April, which stirred speculation about the general's future.
"There's a very high probability that it wasn't health issues, but that he was purged," sending a strong signal to anyone seeking to challenge Kim Jong Un - even if Ri never directly defied the new leader, Pinkston said.
The dismissal comes as Kim Jong Un makes waves in other ways. State TV showed him appearing at a music concert and visiting a kindergarten recently in the company of a woman who carried herself much like a first lady. Her identity has not been revealed but her presence was a notable change from Kim Jong Il's era, when his companions were kept out of state media.
Ri was vice marshal and chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army. In 2010, he was promoted to key political posts in the Workers' Party, including top spots on the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party and the Presidium of the party's influential Political Bureau. That boosted him to the highest political circles - along with Kim Jong Un, Kim's uncle Jang Song Thaek and other trusted members of Kim Jong Il's circle of advisers.
Ri had been at Kim Jong Un's side since the young man emerged publicly as Kim Jong Il's successor in 2010, often standing between father and son at major events.
He was among the small group of men who accompanied late leader Kim Jong Il's hearse through snowy Pyongyang during the funeral procession.
In the months after Kim Jong Un took power, he accompanied the new leader on his first trips to visit military units in a pointed show of continuity and military support.
Ri's departure could be the result of him losing a power struggle with rising star Choe Ryong Hae, the military's top political officer tasked with supervising the army, said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor at Seoul's Dongguk University.
Choe, originally a Workers' Party official, was handed several top jobs and was named a vice marshal in April. Ri had been anointed as Kim Jong Un's patron during the young man's rise to power, Koh said. "But after Kim formally took power, Choe has emerged as No. 2."
The dismissal of the top army official is an especially significant move in North Korea. Kim Jong Il elevated the army's role when he became leader after the 1994 death of Kim Il Sung, his father and the nation's founder.
Kim Jong Un has upheld his father's military-first policy, but in April he also promoted younger officials with economic backgrounds to key party positions.
In Seoul, Hong Hyun-ik, an analyst at think tank the Sejong Institute, said he expected more aging officials to be dismissed in coming weeks.
The decision to dismiss 69-year-old Ri Yong Ho from his military and political posts was made at a Workers' Party meeting on Sunday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. It was not immediately clear who would take Ri's place, and the dispatch did not elaborate on his condition or future.
Daniel Pinkston, a North Korea analyst at the International Crisis Group, was skeptical of the illness claim, in part because of Ri's recent apparent health. He also said Ri won his major promotions at a September 2010 party conference but received none in April, which stirred speculation about the general's future.
"There's a very high probability that it wasn't health issues, but that he was purged," sending a strong signal to anyone seeking to challenge Kim Jong Un - even if Ri never directly defied the new leader, Pinkston said.
The dismissal comes as Kim Jong Un makes waves in other ways. State TV showed him appearing at a music concert and visiting a kindergarten recently in the company of a woman who carried herself much like a first lady. Her identity has not been revealed but her presence was a notable change from Kim Jong Il's era, when his companions were kept out of state media.
Ri was vice marshal and chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army. In 2010, he was promoted to key political posts in the Workers' Party, including top spots on the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party and the Presidium of the party's influential Political Bureau. That boosted him to the highest political circles - along with Kim Jong Un, Kim's uncle Jang Song Thaek and other trusted members of Kim Jong Il's circle of advisers.
Ri had been at Kim Jong Un's side since the young man emerged publicly as Kim Jong Il's successor in 2010, often standing between father and son at major events.
He was among the small group of men who accompanied late leader Kim Jong Il's hearse through snowy Pyongyang during the funeral procession.
In the months after Kim Jong Un took power, he accompanied the new leader on his first trips to visit military units in a pointed show of continuity and military support.
Ri's departure could be the result of him losing a power struggle with rising star Choe Ryong Hae, the military's top political officer tasked with supervising the army, said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor at Seoul's Dongguk University.
Choe, originally a Workers' Party official, was handed several top jobs and was named a vice marshal in April. Ri had been anointed as Kim Jong Un's patron during the young man's rise to power, Koh said. "But after Kim formally took power, Choe has emerged as No. 2."
The dismissal of the top army official is an especially significant move in North Korea. Kim Jong Il elevated the army's role when he became leader after the 1994 death of Kim Il Sung, his father and the nation's founder.
Kim Jong Un has upheld his father's military-first policy, but in April he also promoted younger officials with economic backgrounds to key party positions.
In Seoul, Hong Hyun-ik, an analyst at think tank the Sejong Institute, said he expected more aging officials to be dismissed in coming weeks.
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