The top three military officials in North Korea have been dismissed from their positions, according to a senior US official cited by Reuters, and analysts see the move as an effort from Kim Jong Un to jump-start economic development and engage with the world.
Kim Jong Un is due to meet with US President Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12, the first such meeting between a North Korean leader and a sitting US president.
While Kim’s reasons for the shakeup remain unclear, it allows him to tighten control over the Korean People’s Army (KPA) at a critical time for international engagement and domestic development.
“If Kim Jong Un is set on making peace with the U.S. and South Korea and dealing away at least part of the nuclear programme, he will have to put the KPA’s influence in a box and keep it there,” said Ken Gause, director of the International Affairs Group at CNA, a non-profit research and analysis organisation.
“This reshuffle has brought to the fore the officers who can do just that. They are loyal to Kim Jong Un and no one else.”
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing an unnamed intelligence official, reported that defense chief Pak Yong Sik had been replaced by No Kwang Chol, while Ri Myong Su, chief of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) general staff, had been replaced by his deputy, Ri Yong Gil.
Army general Kim Su Gil’s replacement of Kim Jong Gak as director of the KPA’s general political bureau was previously referenced in North Korean state media, and confirmed Monday by South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which deals with North Korean affairs, CNN reported.
“All these (promoted) guys are top Kim Jong Un guys,” said Michael Madden, author of the highly respected North Korea Leadership Watch blog. “All three of them have held very sensitive and high level positions under Kim Jong Un, they’re very loyal (to him), and all have experience interacting with foreign delegations.”
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