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Raisethefist.com: Purge of North Korean general still a mystery
Purge of North Korean general still a mystery
by anonymous Wed Jul 18 23:54:52 PDT 2012
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North Korea's sudden dismissal of Ri Yong Ho from his post as army chief and from all his government posts caught many watchers of the secretive regime of Kim Jong Un by surprise and wondering what was going on.
"To me, it's just another sign of how this transition is quite unstable, and we think it's six months since Kim Jong Il died, and we think everything is normal in North Korea - clearly it's not normal," said Victor Cha, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies and author of a new book on the Kim regime.
For Cha, who traveled to Pyongyang in 2006 as a member of the National Security Council, the announcement signals a transition still in flux. "It's a relative term when you say 'normal' in North Korea, but this is not business as usual, very clearly."
Trying to divine what exactly is behind the decisions of North Korean elites is usually at best a guessing game of sorts, with the opacity of the regime seemingly impenetrable to rigorous analysis by Western governments and intelligence agencies.
"We are aware of developments concerning changes in the DPRK military leadership," State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said on Monday. "We're not in a position to comment on the accuracy of these news reports, but changes in personnel, absent a fundamental change in direction, mean little."
North Korea said Wednesday that it had given the title of marshal of the army to its young leader, Kim Jong Un, the latest in a string of recent moves to reconfigure the top ranks of the military. Kim's new title is probably partially related to the recent military reshuffle and appears intended "to emphasize he's in a position of power," said Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University in South Korea.
North Korea's top two military commissions gave the title of vice marshal to a little known general named Hyon Yong Choi, according to the state-run news agency. It was not known if he was the designated successor to Ri. Ri held the title of vice marshal along with other military and party posts before his removal.
While the regime maintains Ri was relieved of his positions because of a medical condition, analysts who follow the situation closely say this specific personnel change is significant.
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