N. Korea punishes 2 ‘top’ military officers

Pyongyang M-advances feared

SEOUL, South Korea, Nov 20, (Agencies): South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers Monday that North Korea has punished two of its top military officers, including one widely seen as its second-most powerful official, during a highly unusual inspection of the military’s powerful political bureau.

According to a lawmaker who attended the closeddoor briefing by the National Intelligence Service, it said the inspection of the North Korean military’s General Political Bureau was the first of its kind in 20 years and occurred because of its “impure” attitude, which it did not describe.

The spy agency said it obtained intelligence that the head of the bureau, Vice Marshal Hwang Pyong So, his top deputy, Kim Wong Hong, and other officers were punished, according to the lawmaker, Kim Byung-kee.

Hwang’s position as the military’s top political officer made him North Korea’s second most powerful official after leader Kim Jong Un, according to many South Korean analysts. If he were to be removed, it could lead to a major shift in North Korea’s secretive hierarchy of power.

It was unclear whether Hwang was verbally reprimanded, dismissed or banished to a rural area. The spy agency, which has a spotty record in reporting developments in North Korea, said it couldn’t publicly confirm Kim’s account of the briefing.

Kim Won Hong once headed North Korea’s state security ministry, and the South Korean government said in February that he had been fired from that post, presumably because of corruption, abuse of power and torture committed by his ministry.

Meanwhile, North Korea may conduct additional missile tests this year to polish up its long-range missile technology and ramp up the threat against the United States, South Korea’s spy agency said on Monday, adding that it was monitoring developments closely.

North Korea, under its leader Kim Jong-un, is pursuing nuclear weapons and missile programmes in defiance of UN Security Council sanctions and has made no secret of its plans to develop a missile capable of hitting the US mainland. It has fired two missiles over Japan.

The reclusive state appears to have carried out a recent missile engine test while brisk movements of vehicles were spotted near known missile facilities, Yi Wan-young, a member of South Korea’s parliamentary intelligence committee which was briefed by Seoul’s National Intelligence Service, said.

No sign of an imminent nuclear test had been detected, Yi noted. The third tunnel at the Punggye-ri complex remained ready for another detonation “at any time”, while construction had recently resumed at a fourth tunnel, making it out of use for the time being.

“The agency is closely following the developments because there is a possibility that North Korea could fire an array of ballistic missiles this year under the name of a satellite launch and peaceful development of space, but in fact to ratchet up its threats against the United States,” the lawmakers told reporters after a closed-door briefing by the spy agency.

North Korea defends its weapons programmes as a necessary defence against US plans to invade. The United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean war, denies any such intention.

Jong Un

Chongqing renews attacks on ex-leaders:

The government of the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing renewed its attacks on two of its disgraced former leaders on Monday, saying one had set up an “independent kingdom” while the other was a lazy deceiver.

Chongqing, one of China’s most important cities, is perhaps best known outside China for its association with its one-time party boss, Bo Xilai, once himself a contender for top leadership before being jailed for life in 2013 in a dramatic corruption scandal.

In July, another of its party chiefs, Sun Zhengcai, was sacked after he was accused of corruption. Sun, who has yet to face a court, had also been seen as a contender for promotion to the highest echelons of power in China.

Chongqing is now run by Chen Miner, a close ally of President Xi Jinping, who has made fighting deeply ingrained corruption a cornerstone of his administration. Chen has vowed to root out graft in the city.

‘Twitter killer’ faces murder charge:

Japan’s “Twitter killer”, who is suspected of murdering and dismembering nine people he met on social media, was charged with his first count of homicide on Monday.

Takahiro Shiraishi, 27, is believed to have lured his mostly female victims — aged between 15 and 26 — to his apartment near Tokyo, where he killed them and cut up their bodies.

He has admitted murdering all nine, and was Monday charged with the homicide of Aiko Tamura, 23.

Shiraishi, who allegedly stashed bits of bodies in coolers around his small apartment, is believed to have made contact with suicidal victims on Twitter and offered to help them die.

Japan urged to resettle more refugees:

The UN refugee agency has urged Japan to resettle more asylum seekers, its chief said on Monday, pressuring the country to help solve a global crisis after giving refugee status to just three people in the first half of the year.

Japan is one of the developed world’s least welcoming countries for asylum seekers. It accepted 28 in 2016, despite applications from a record 10,091 people.

It has since 2008 given home to limited numbers of refugees through a so-called third-country resettlement scheme, resettling a total of 152 people — mostly ethnic Karen people from Myanmar living in Thai and Malaysian camps.

US military under alcohol ban:

US Forces in Japan banned all personnel from consuming alcohol after a drink-driving accident on the island of Okinawa where anti-base sentiment runs high.

A US Marine crashed his vehicle into a mini-truck at an intersection on Sunday, killing the other driver, 61.

The 21-year-old, whose breath test showed an alcohol level three times the legal limit, was arrested and charged with negligent driving resulting in death, police said.