North Korea ‘military reshuffle’ raises eyebrows

SEOUL: Seoul is monitoring developments in the North’s military, it said after reports Pyongyang replaced three of its top military officials ahead of a summit with the United States.

President Donald Trump is due to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore with Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal high on the agenda and reports said that the reshuffle could be aimed at taming the military.

Late last month the North’s state media revealed that Kim Su-gil had been appointed as director of the military’s powerful General Political Bureau (GPB), replacing Kim Jonggak.

According to Yonhap news agency, which cited intelligence sources, the chief of the general staff Ri Myong-su has also been replaced by his deputy, Ri Yong-gil.

And defence minister Pak Yongsik has been succeeded by No Kwang- chol, previously first vice-minister, it added.

The wholesale reshuffle would be unusual if confirmed, Seoul’s unification ministry said.

“We will monitor related developments,” ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told reporters yesterday.

Pyongyang’s military, known as the Korean People’s Army (KPA), is immensely influential in the North and a centre of power in its own right, symbolised by the way Kim is habitually flanked by generals on one side and civilians on the other when attending major ceremonial events.

According to researchers at NK Leadership Watch, the change at the top of the GPB “represents a continuation of tightening Party control over the KPA”.