Top North Korean general loses job

General Ri Yong-ho (left) with North Korean leader Kim Jong-eun during a military parade in February

Πηγή: FT
By Simon Mundy
July 16 2012

The head of the North Korean army has been abruptly removed from his post, in a move that analysts said reflects the new leader Kim Jong-eun's desire to assert control over the military and eliminate potential threats to his authority.

Kim Jong-il, the former North Korean leader who died last December, had assigned Ri Yong-ho, a childhood friend, to mentor his son Kim Jong-eun as he prepared to take over the running of the country.

After decades in the military, Mr Ri, 70, was one of the most powerful figures in North Korea, with a position on the five-strong Politburo standing committee, and has frequently been seen by Kim Jong-eun’s side since he entered office.

Following a Politburo meeting on Sunday, the state news agency announced on Monday that Mr Ri had been relieved of all official duties with immediate effect. It said the move was because of illness, although there were no outward signs of health problems during Mr Ri’s recent public appearances.

While Mr Ri has been a core figure in the hawkish North Korean foreign policy of recent years, analysts said there was little to suggest that his dismissal reflected a more conciliatory stance under Kim Jong-eun.

The tone of official statements has remained belligerent since Mr Kim took power, and North Korea carried out a suspected missile test in April just two months after signing an agreement with the US to suspend such activity. In May Pyongyang rejected calls to abandon its nuclear programme, vowing to “expand and bolster it non-stop as long as this hostile [US] policy goes on”.

Jeung Yong-tae, senior research fellow at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification, said the most likely reason for Mr Ri’s dismissal was Mr Kim’s desire to strengthen his hold on the military – one of the world’s biggest, with about 1.2m troops. Almost at the same time that Mr Ri’s dismissal was announced, Mr Kim issued a rallying statement to the army, thanking soldiers for their loyalty.

“Kim Jong-eun wants to weaken the power of the generals – Ri Yong-ho might have been a possible threat to him,” Mr Jeung said. The sacked general was one of a number of elderly soldiers who rose to power under Mr Kim’s father, but are divided by a generational gap from the new leader, who is believed to be about 29 years old.

Mr Ri had held overarching control over the military since September 2010, but was put under the authority of Choi Ryong-hae, the newly-appointed director of the general political bureau, in August.

Cheong Seong-chang, a senior research fellow at the Sejong Institute, said that Mr Ri’s fall from grace could have been a result of tension between him and Mr Choi, a civilian official. “Ri's dismissal shows the party's absolute control and domination of its military,” he said. “If one dares to go against the leadership, even the closest confidant of Kim Jong-eun can be removed from his position in an instant … Ri's dismissal can be seen as a warning to the other higher officials in the party.”