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In Latest Government Shuffle, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un Dismisses No. 2 Military Official
(about 7 hours later)
SEOUL, South Korea — Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, has removed an official who was widely considered No. 2 in the Kim government from a top military post, according to a report Friday in the country’s state-run news media.
SEOUL, South Korea — Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, has removed an official who was widely considered No. 2 in the Kim government from a top military post, according to a report on Friday in the country’s state-run news media.
For the past two years, the official, Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae, has been head of the General Political Bureau of the North Korean People’s Army, the second most powerful military post. Mr. Kim is the supreme commander.
For the past two years, the official, Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae, had been head of the General Political Bureau of the North Korean People’s Army, the second most powerful military post. Mr. Kim is the supreme commander.
Mr. Choe is widely believed to have also been the second-most influential person in the North Korean government, a position he apparently cemented after Jang Song-thaek, Mr. Kim’s uncle and the previous presumed No. 2, was executed in December on charges of plotting to unseat his nephew.
Mr. Choe was widely believed to have also been the second-most influential person in the government, a position he apparently cemented after Jang Song-thaek, Mr. Kim’s uncle and the previous presumed No. 2, was executed in December on charges of plotting to unseat his nephew.
On Friday, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency revealed Mr. Choe’s dismissal when it identified Vice Marshal Hwang Pyong-so as the military’s new top political officer while reporting on Mr. Hwang’s visit to a textile workers’ dormitory the previous day.
On Friday, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency disclosed Mr. Choe’s dismissal when it identified Vice Marshal Hwang Pyong-so as the military’s new top political officer while reporting on Mr. Hwang’s visit to a textile workers’ dormitory the previous day.
It remained unclear whether Mr. Choe was also removed from the other powerful posts he had gained under Mr. Kim: he has been a member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea and a vice chairman of the party’s Central Military Commission.
It remained unclear whether Mr. Choe was also removed from the other powerful posts he had gained under Mr. Kim; he has been a member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea and a vice chairman of the party’s Central Military Commission.
Less than a month ago, on April 9, Mr. Choe was appointed as one of the three vice chairmen of the National Defense Commission, the top governing agency headed by Mr. Kim.
Less than a month ago, on April 9, Mr. Choe was appointed as one of the three vice chairmen of the National Defense Commission, the top governing agency headed by Mr. Kim.
In his last appearance in North Korean media, on Saturday, Mr. Choe was still wearing the uniform of a vice marshal while attending a meeting of the Central Military Commission, during which Mr. Hwang was made vice marshal.
In his last appearance in the North Korean media, on Saturday, Mr. Choe was still wearing the uniform of a vice marshal while attending a meeting of the Central Military Commission, during which Mr. Hwang was made vice marshal.
“We think it is unlikely that Choe Ryong-hae has been purged,” said Kim Eui-do, a spokesman at the Unification Ministry of South Korea, which is in charge of relations with North Korea.
“We think it is unlikely that Choe Ryong-hae has been purged,” said Kim Eui-do, a spokesman at the Unification Ministry of South Korea, which handles relations with North Korea.
Still, Mr. Choe’s removal from the military post signaled the declining influence of a man who had been the fastest-rising star under Mr. Kim’s young leadership.
Still, Mr. Choe’s removal from the military post signaled his declining influence; he had been the fastest-rising star under Mr. Kim’s young leadership.
Mr. Choe has diabetes. South Korean officials and analysts said his illness had worsened in recent months, and he was less frequently seen accompanying Mr. Kim in his public activities. In the North, the frequency with which an official is seen with Mr. Kim and the rank of his name in a list of party secretaries and military generals accompanying the top leader are two of the most important gauges of his status within the secretive regime.
Mr. Choe has diabetes. South Korean officials and analysts said his illness had worsened in recent months, and he was less frequently seen accompanying Mr. Kim in his public activities. In the North, the frequency with which an official is seen with Mr. Kim and the rank of his name in a list of party secretaries and military generals accompanying the top leader are two of the most important gauges of his status.
As Mr. Choe’s fortunes declined, Mr. Hwang rose quickly to replace him as the most prominent official alongside Mr. Kim in recent months.
Mr. Hwang has served as first vice director of the Department of Organization and Guidance at the Workers’ Party, which oversees the promotions and demotions of party and military officials. North Korea has never revealed who heads the department, which most analysts in the South say is overseen directly by Mr. Kim.
Since taking over the North’s leadership role after the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, in late 2011, Mr. Kim has frequently replaced top party and military officials. Analysts saw the moves as part of an effort to usher the stalwarts from his father’s days into retirement and promote a new elite more loyal to him. Through the frequent reshuffles, the analysts said, Mr. Kim is also keeping any one official from accumulating too much power, they said.
“We can say that Kim Jong-un’s power has become more solidified” with the replacement of Mr. Choe, said Cheong Seong-chang, a longtime researcher of the North Korean government at Sejong Institute of South Korea.
Mr. Cheong cited Mr. Choe’s deteriorating health as a cause of his declining status. But he also said Mr. Kim may have seen Mr. Choe as a potential threat, given his growing charisma within the military. After the execution of Mr. Jang, Mr. Choe led a large gathering of military officers in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, vowing to remove any challenge to Mr. Kim’s rule.
But on Saturday, Mr. Kim criticized the military for being poorly prepared for battle, party blaming its political officers for the problem. On the same day, Mr. Kim presided over the Central Military Commission meeting, at which Mr. Choe is believed to have been replaced.
