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China-Japan-Koreas

Top 4 N.Korean Military Officials Fall Victim to Shakeup

2012-12-02

North Korean Defense Minister Kim Jong-gak has been whacked sacked as part of a major shakeup at the top of the powerful North Korean military, officials here said Thursday. "Kim Jong-un has been replacing key military officials based on their loyalty to him," a high-ranking Cheong Wa Dae official said. Kim Kyok-sik, who orchestrated the artillery shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in November of 2010, has now replaced Kim Jong-gak as chief of the Ministry of the People's Armed Force. Kim Jong-gak had been defense minister for only seven months and was seen as a close confidant of the new leader. His ouster means that four high-ranking military officials who accompanied Kim Jong-un last December in escorting the hearse of his father Kim Jong-il have either been whacked sacked or relegated to minor posts. Kim Jong-un is apparently engaged in a struggle to seize control of the military, which ballooned into a state within a state under his father’s songun or military-first doctrine. Former Army chief Ri Yong-ho, the highest-ranking among the four, was stripped of all posts last July and is believed to be under house arrest in a remote region. Kim Yong-chun, the defense minister at the time of Kim senior's death, was replaced by Kim Jong-gak in April and demoted to a minor post within the Workers Party. Now Kim Jong-gak too is gone. And U Dong-chuk, the first deputy director of the State Security Department, disappeared from public view after participating in centenary celebrations for nation founder Kim Il-sung on Feb. 16. When Kim Jong-un was anointed as his father's successor in January 2009, the four officers were handpicked to groom the young leader. But all were close confidants of Kim Jong-il. One government official here said Kim junior is trying to "erase all traces of his father's rule" 11 months after stepping into power and "replacing top brass with officers who are loyal to him alone." Kim Jong-gak had led day-to-day operations of the powerful National Defense Commission while its first vice chairman Cho Myong-rok was mortally ill in 2010 and rose even further in September that year. In February this year, just after Kim Jong-un was officially declared leader, Kim Jong-gak was promoted to vice marshal, and two months later to defense minister. But he has not been seen in public since the opening of a soft-drink store in Pyongyang on Oct. 30. "Kim Jong-gak had been under a lot of criticism recently for being only intent on maintaining his position and failing to do his job properly," said one intelligence official here. Kim Kyok-sik, the new defense minister, once the army chief, was demoted in February of 2009 to corps commander overseeing the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border separating the two Koreas. Under his command, the North triggered a naval skirmish along the NLL in November 2009, sank the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan in March 2010 and shelled Yeonpyeong Island in November that year. Even so, Kim Kyok-sik was demoted to a three-star general for his apparent failure to deal effectively with Seoul's responses after the shelling of Yeonpyeong, but his recent appearance with four-star insignia raised speculation here that he has been promoted to a higher post.

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China-Japan-Koreas

Pudgy observes combined arms military exercise

2012-04-30

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Suet Face Kim Jong-un observed a combined arms exercise to mark the 80th anniversary of the Korean People's Army (KPA), a media report said Saturday. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) picked up in Seoul said without specifying the date of the exercise that Fat Boy Kim, who has been made the supreme commander of the KPA, "guided" the military maneuver. The anniversary of the North Korean armed forces fell on Wednesday. Ah! What does this thing do? Point it the other way, sir. The exercise involving aircraft, tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery and infantry from combined unit 655 was aimed at conducting retaliatory strikes against imperialists and enemies of the communist country by devastating the source of the threat, the KCNA said. It said that the unit was ready and able to immediately strike at the heart of the enemy who had attacked the integrity of the regime. The media report said ranking officers of the KPA such as vice marshals Choe Ryong-hae, Ri Yong-ho and Kim Jong-gak were present at the exercise.

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China-Japan-Koreas

More on Pudgy's Purge of Military

2012-03-22

A bloody purge in North Korea following the sudden death of leader Kim Jong-il late last year saw barbaric methods including mortar rounds used to execute high-ranking military officials, a South Korean government source said Wednesday. "After Kim Jong-un became North Korean leader following the mourning period for his father in late December, high-ranking military officers started disappearing," the source said. The source added Fat Boy Kim Jong-un ordered loyal officials to "get rid of" anyone caught misbehaving during the mourning period for Kim Jong-il. But contrary to reports that an assistant chief of the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces was put in front of a firing squad for being drunk during the mourning period, he was executed using a mortar round in line with Kim's orders to leave "no trace of him behind, down to his hair." Besides the assistant chief and an assistant chief of the General Staff Department, frontline commanders were also executed, the source said. Kim Jong-il also purged dissenters after the death of his father Kim Il-sung in 1994. Even those caught for minor infractions were executed by firing squad. But Kim Jong-un's methods appear even more brutal. A source familiar with North Korea said, "It appears that the loyalty pledged by the military did not satisfy the young leader, who is sensitive about his weight age." Kim junior is 28 or 29. The source said the drastic measures may have been proposed by Kim's confidant Kim Jong-gak (62), the first deputy director of the General Political Bureau of the North Korean People's Army.

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China-Japan-Koreas

Pudgy Promotes General Suspected in Cheonan Attack

2012-02-16

The man fingered by South Korean authorities as being responsible for the torpedo attack against the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan, has been promoted from lieutenant general to general, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported on Wednesday. In the first high-level military reshuffle conducted by North Korean leader Suet Face Kim Jong-un following the death in December of his father, Kim Jong-il, Gen. Kim Yong-chol, head of the policy department of North Korea's National Defense Commission, was granted the new title. The department is also known as the General Reconnaissance Bureau, the headquarters of the regime's anti-South Korean operations. The latest promotions came ahead of the elder Kim's birthday on Thursday. A total of 23 military officials have been promoted, including Kim Jong-gak (62), first deputy director of Army's General Political Bureau. Kim Yong-chol is suspected of orchestrating all of the major provocations committed against South Korea since 2009, including the July 2009 DDoS computer virus attacks on major South Korean and U.S. government agencies. He is also believed to have dispatched a hit team in November of 2009 to assassinate Hwang Jang-yop, the highest-ranking North Korean to defect to the South, and to have orchestrated the sinking of the Cheonan in March of 2010, which the North denies being responsible for. Kim may also have played a key role in organizing a hacking attack against South Korean lender Nonghyup in April last year. Government sources said that if the North had sacked -- rather than rewarded -- Kim Yong-chol, it would have been construed as a genuine move to mend ties with the South, as well as a demonstration of the power and reach of its new leader. But Fat Boy Kim Jong-un has shown that he has no such intentions. Ryu Dong-ryeol, a researcher at the Police Science Institute, said, "Provocations against the South led by Kim Yong-chol could become more intense this year, especially as general and presidential elections are on the calendar [in South Korea]." Kim Jong-gak, who was promoted to vice marshal in the latest reshuffle, is close to the reclusive nation's new leader. He is in charge of monitoring all North Korean military officers and played a key role in helping his new boss solidify his grip on power over the military. Kim was one of seven officials who escorted Kim Jong-il's funeral hearse last year. He also read a eulogy to the dead leader on behalf of the military. Meanwhile, the North Korean regime on Tuesday decided to bestow on Kim Jong-il the title of "Generalissimo" for his feats, which apparently include elevating the country's status to that of a nuclear power, and building and putting into orbit a satellite. Until now, only Kim Il-sung, the late founder of North Korea, held the title, which was bestowed upon him two days before his 80th birthday in 1992.

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China-Japan-Koreas

Was Pudgy's 1st Tour a Warning to S. Korea?

2012-01-04

Kim Jong-un's visit to a historically important armored division on New Year's Day can be interpreted as a warning to South Korea, pundits believe. When his father Kim Jong-il last visited the tank division on Jan. 5, 2010, North Korean state TV showed drills simulating an invasion of the South. Like father, like son... A South Korean intelligence official said, "Two months after Kim Jong-il's visit to the 105th Seoul Ryu Kyong-Su Guards Division in 2010, North Korea sank the Navy corvette Cheonan. We should watch carefully what the result of Kim Jong-un's visit on Sunday will be." Pundits also believe the visit to the unit, which is seen as the birthplace of the regime's disastrous "military-first" doctrine, was a message to both the domestic and international public that the policy will remain unchanged. Others say the new leader wanted to proclaim to all and sundry that his regime is stable. An Unification Ministry official said, "It seems he is trying to dispel doubts surrounding his inexperience and lack of charisma." Three out of the "gang of seven" who walked alongside Kim Jong-il’s hearse also accompanied Kim on Sunday -- Jang Song-taek, the vice chairman of the National Defense Committee and widely thought to be the power behind the throne, Ri Yong-ho, vice Chairman of the Workers Party's Central Military Commission, and Kim Jong-gak, the senior deputy director of the North Korean Army's General Political Bureau.

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China-Japan-Koreas

Kim Jong-un Unleashes Reign of Terror

2011-09-23

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's son Jong-un ...AKA: The Only Fat Kid In North Korea... has unleashed a reign of terror and kickstarted his own personality cult to make up for his lack of experience and competence over the past year. I suppose that makes sense in Nork-land... The obese tubby 20-something was anointed as his father's successor at a party congress last year. "Kim Jong-un is implementing a reign of terror using military and public security agencies," a source said on Wednesday. On what? Doughnut shops? All you can eat buffet lines? "The elite is becoming agitated as he has gone all out to purge senior officials who pose a hurdle to his succession." ...but not that agitated. Senior officials such as minister of public security Ju Sang-song, vice premier Ri Tae-nam, and deputy director of the State Security Department Ryu Kyong were fired or executed on corruption charges. Kim junior also ordered a merciless crackdown on "anti-socialist" trends, including South Korean pop music and TV series, and got deeply involved in organizational and personnel matters at the State Security Department and the Ministry of Public Security, the source added. Hey! This is kinda fun, pops! Yes, I remember when your grandfather let me order the execution of my first thought criminals...you never forget your first time, sonny. As a result, public executions tripled to about 60 last year compared to 2009, and the regime has been carrying out a massive hunt for potential defectors. A special mobile force armed with riot gear has been established to quell any popular uprisings. At last year's party congress, Kim senior appointed his son a vice chairman of the party Central Military Commission, the governing body of the North Korean Army, to help him get a grip on the military. Kim senior also placed the entire top military brass under the commission's jurisdiction. "Under his father's auspices, Kim Jong-un is exercising de-facto command of the military through Ri Yong-ho, the chief of the North Korean Army's general staff, and Kim Jong-gak, the senior deputy director of the North Korean Army's General Political Bureau," the source said. "He has established a support base in the military by replacing old-guard frontline unit commanders with younger commanders in their 30s and 40s who are loyal to him." Generals over 60 who were dismissed in this process resisted en masse, according to an intelligence report. Ooooooh, I'll bet that wasn't a smart move... ...they rather lost their heads... The regime is bent on building a personality cult around Kim junior. An indoctrination handbook has been distributed since the first half of last year with preposterous stories, one of which claims that senior military officers were stunned to see Kim junior fire a handgun when he was only three years old and draw an operational map when he was a schoolboy. A signboard was set up at each major agency and factory saying "Daejangbok," which means "people enjoy the happiness (bok) of having general (daejang) Kim Jong-un." Agencies Kim Junior visited mounted a signboard saying, "Kim Jong-un gave on-the-spot guidance here." "Which spot?" "That spot!" An oil portrait of Kim junior was presented at the Shanghai International Arts Festival held early this month, and school textbooks exalting him are expected to be published soon. The source said his half brother Jong-nam, who was edged out in a power struggle, will seek political asylum abroad to stay alive. That might not save him. But if we had a CIA worth anything at all we'd be working with Jong-nam to start an insurrection movement in the North. But Kim Jong-un is having trouble winning people's hearts and minds. He masterminded attacks on the Navy corvette Cheonan and Yeonpyeong Island last year to divert attention, the source said.

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China-Japan-Koreas

Nork Spy Chief Main Obstacle to Improving Relations

2011-08-02

Next to Kimmie and Sonny Boy, you mean... North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will have to sack the head of the regime's operations against South Korea to show it is "sincere" about improving cross-border relations, a government official here said Monday. The official was referring to Kim Yong-chol, director of the North's Reconnaissance Bureau. Kim is believed to have masterminded last year's attacks against the Navy corvette Cheonan and Yeaonpyeong Island. He is also believed to be behind the hacking of agricultural lender Nonghyup. The government believes that as long as he remains close to Kim Jong-il (no relation) and his heir apparent Jong-un, inter-Korean relations cannot improve. Kim Yong-chol was only recently elected to the Workers Party's Central Military Commission, whose vice chairman is now Kim junior. According to a well-informed source, Kim Yong-chol is concerned about what would happen to his position if inter-Korean relations were to improve. South Korean intelligence believes it was Kim Yong-chol who caused a fracas at an inter-Korean military meeting in February, and ordered secret contacts between the two Koreas in May to be revealed on June 1. Job security is always job one in a thugocracy... The source said that Kim Yong-chol wields much influence over Kim Jong-un as he tutored the dynastic son in military lore while Kim junior was at Kim Il Sung Military University. Rumors have it that Kim Yong-chol boasted to fellow officials that he "brought up" Kim Jong-un. Another government official said Kim Yong-chol's arrogance makes him unpopular within the regime. Senior military figures like Kim Yong-chun and O Kuk-ryol have openly criticized him for crippling the country to flatter Kim Jong-un. Even vice marshal Ri Yong-ho and Kim Jong-gak, the first deputy chief of the General Political Bureau, who belong to the same group of patrons of Kim Jong-un, are concerned about Kim Yong-chol's growing influence. The official added that officials in North Korea's Foreign Ministry and the United Front Department are saying the North can only make progress if Kim Yong-chol steps down. They say he only cares about furthering his own interests, according to the official. Unlike all the rest of them, of course, they're all patriots at heart... A government source said, "As long as Kim Yong-chol exerts influence over both Kim senior and junior, it is unlikely that recent talks on the North's nuclear issue and foreign ministerial talks will lead to an easing of inter-Korean relations." Some pundits even predict that Kim Yong-chol can push for further provocations if the two Koreas try to engage in dialogue in earnest. One intelligence officer said, "The Reconnaissance Bureau could try to destroy infrastructure in South Korea through spies in the South, or carry out terrorist attacks on North Korean defectors campaigning against the dictatorial regime in the South. It is also possible that the North will carry out another massive cyber attack." Another intelligence officer said that given Kim Yong-chol's "violent and reckless nature," if he sees himself on the verge of being purged, he might resort to extreme measures such as a coup d'état.

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China-Japan-Koreas

Sonny Boy Effectively Control Security Forces

2011-04-13

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's son and heir Jong-un was appointed director of the State Security Department, the regime's chief spy agency, in late 2009. "Signals intelligence we've obtained suggests Kim Jong-un is being called 'director' of the security department," a South Korean government official said. "It seems he has already gained control of the security agency." The department's main duties are to ferret out dissidents and put residents under surveillance. It has about 50,000 agents. At an extraordinary party congress last September, the regime appointed U Dong-chuk, the first deputy director of the department, and Kim Chang-sop, the chief of the political bureau of the department, to the Politburo, the first time in the regime's history that the political bureau chief has joined the top body. Kim Jong-un visited the department twice in October last year. Kim Jong-il has reportedly headed the department himself since its former chief Ri Jin-su died of acute cirrhosis in 1987. Kim senior was designated the successor to power in 1974 after he seized control of the party apparatus in 1972 as secretary in charge of organization and propaganda. But Kim Jong-un gained control of the security department first. Another intelligence report says Kim junior was groomed as the successor in the administration bureau of the powerful National Defense Commission. The regime promoted Gen. Ri Myong-su, the chief of the administration bureau, to minister of public security on April 7. "The North Korean military is under surveillance by Kim Jong-gak, the first deputy chief of the General Political Bureau," a North Korean source said. "The military and police are effectively under Kim Jong-un's control with Kim Jong-gak and Ri Myong-su acting as the front."

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China-Japan-Koreas

N.Korea Unveils Kim Jong-il Statue

2011-03-29

[Chosun Ilbo] North Korea has unveiled a statue of leader Kim Jong-il, probably the first in the communist country. "It is our highest privilege and good fortune to be able to unveil a bronze statue of our comrade commander for the first time in our country," Gen. Kim Jong-gak, a vice director of the People's Army's General Political Bureau, was quoted as saying by an army newsletter that also carried a picture of the statue. The streets of Pyongyang are riddled with statues of former leader Kim Il-sung, but this is the first representing Kim Jong-il. "There were occasional accounts of sightings of Kim Jong-il statues, but this is the first photograph of a full-body statue of him made by the state," a Unification Ministry official said. "There have been instances when loyal officials insisted on erecting a statue of Kim Jong-il, but Kim always declined," a senior defector who beat feet from the North last year said. "He also initially rejected a proposal back in the 1980s to hang portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il side by side, which led to confusion among the public over which picture to hang on their walls." The leader apparently has good reason to oppose the construction of statues depicting him. "The emergence of statues of a leader signifies the end of his reign," a South Korean intelligence official said. Statues of Kim Il-sung began to appear at the end of his reign and the start of Kim Jong-il's leadership. The bronze statue may be a project by his son Jong-un, who is widely expected to inherit the North Korean throne. Kim Yong-hyun, a North Korea expert at Dongguk University, said Kim junior appears to be consolidating his succession by canonizing his father just as Kim Jong-il justified his rise to power through a personality cult of Kim Il-sung.

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China-Japan-Koreas

N. Korea Purges Party, Military

2010-02-07

The North Korean regime is purging senior military and party officials. In the Workers' Party, the heads of the financial and economic sections have been sacked over the disastrous currency reform and international sanctions, and in the military, officers in their 70s and 80s from the era of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung are making way for younger military leaders in their 50s and 60s. Young blood and fresh ideas. Goody. In the Workers' Party, three key economic figures have been replaced. Finance Director Pak Nami-gi was apparently axed on Jan 20, taking the fall for the failed currency revaluation late last year. "Room 39" bureau director Kim Tong-un was recently replaced by his deputy Jon Il-chun after having managed the regime's secret coffers for 36 years. A source says that Kim Tong-un was replaced because he was put under a personal travel ban by the EU in December last year and it was difficult for him to manage overseas funds for the North Korean leader. Han Kwang-sang was apparently promoted from first deputy of the finance and accounting department to head, which has been vacant for a long time. The department is in charge of managing party funds. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il last month tapped Vice Foreign Minister Kim Yong-il, who is familiar with Chinese affairs and served as the chief negotiator to the six-way nuclear talks, as the head of the party's department for international affairs. An intelligence officer in Seoul says the appointment of Kim Yong-il is likely related to the international sanctions, which were imposed after the North conducted its second nuclear test. Several military leaders in their 70s and 80s have disappeared from the scene due to old age and chronic disease, including Marshal Ri Ul-sol; Jo Myong-rok, director of the Army's General Political Bureau; and Ri Yong-mu, vice chairman of the National Defense Commission. They have been in the military since the era of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung. Defense Minister Kim Yong-chun has also not been seen in public for more than two months, apparently due to ill health. He had been the chief of the Army's General Staff for more than 10 years after Kim Jong-il succeeded his father. Rising military leaders are Gen. Ri Yong-ho, the current chief of the Army's General Staff, and Kim Jong-gak, vice-director of the Army's general political department. Both are, though not exactly youthful, in their 60s. A North Korea source says Ri is an artillery expert and may have been behind North Korea's recent firing of artillery shells into waters near the maritime border in the West Sea. Baek Seung-joo, chief of the Center for Security and Strategy at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, says, "Many North Korean military officers in their 50s and 60s were assigned to the general political department, which checks the loyalty of the military to the North Korean leader." They will play an important role in consolidating the succession to the heir apparent Kim Jong-un, he added. Analysts say that the party purges are an attempt to appease growing popular discontent after the failed currency reform led to skyrocketing prices, while the replacement of top brass is a move to prepare for the succession. Dongguk University professor Kim Yong-hyun says, "To ease public dissatisfaction with the currency revaluation, North Korea needs to replace financial officials responsible and adopt a new policy." Given that the priority that the North puts on the military, the military reshuffle may be aimed at laying the foundation for heir apparent Kim Jong-un to take power. A North Korean source says Kim Jong-un has a post in the Defense Commission and is exercising his influence over personnel changes in the military.

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China-Japan-Koreas

Chinese Defense Minister Pledges Loyalty to Norks

2009-11-24

Doubling down or setting them up? Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie is in North Korea in the first visit by a Chinese defense chief since April 2006. "No force on earth can break the unity of the armies and peoples of the two countries and it will last forever," Liang was quoted by the official KCNA news agency as saying Sunday. He was speaking at a reception hosted by North Korea's Ministry of the People's Armed Forces. "I personally experienced the bilateral friendship sealed in blood when I was in Korea about 50 years ago as a member of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army," fighting in the Korean War on the North Korean side. His North Korean counterpart Kim Yong-chun said, "It is the firm stand of our Army and people to develop the Korea-China friendship, which has withstood all trials of history." On Nov. 17, Gen. Kim Jong-gak, the first vice director of the General Political Bureau and an influential leader in the North Korean Army, visited Beijing, where he met Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, the presumptive next leader. Kim Yong-chun visited China in June. Kim Heung-kyu, a professor at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, said, "China apparently feels the need to establish a channel in the North Korean military since the military's influence in the North's policy-making process is growing." The bilateral military channel was virtually disconnected in the late 1950s when Kim Il-sung conducted a mass purge of so-called pro-Chinese "Yanan faction" in the military. Prof. Nam Joo-hong of Kyonggi University said, "With the approach of the North's return to the six-party talks, it's time for China to placate the North Korean military. And it's also time for the North to seek outside military support to rely as the Seoul-Washington alliance is strong."

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China-Japan-Koreas

Kimmie calls on military to improve combat capability

2009-11-09

SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il urged his country's armed servicemembers to improve their combat capabilities, saying they must be prepared to protect their socialist nation, the North's official news agency reported Sunday. The call came during Kim's recent visit to Korean People's Army (KPA) Unit 1224, according to the report by the Korean Central News Agency. The report did not elaborate on when the visit was made, only saying the North Korean leader was accompanied by KPA vice-marshal Kim yong-chun, vice chairman of the National Defense Commission and minister of armed forces Gen. Kim Jong-gak and several other officials. "After watching the servicepersons' training at the unit, (Kim Jong-il) was greatly satisfied to see all the servicepersons grown to be a-match-for-a-hundred fighters fully prepared politically and ideologically and in military technique to firmly safeguard the socialist motherland," the English-language report said. "He set forth the tasks to be fulfilled by the unit to increase its combat capability in every way," it added.

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