N. Korean media: Army chief relieved of all posts

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By HYUNG-JIN KIM

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Kim Jong Un's top military official - a key mentor to North Korea's young new leader who had served under his father - has been removed from all posts because of illness, state media said Monday in a surprise announcement that shakes the core of the authoritarian country's power structure.

Ri Yong Ho had looked healthy in recent appearances, and his departure fed speculation among analysts that Kim purged him in an effort to put his own mark on the nation he inherited seven months ago when his father Kim Jong Il died. At the same time, there was no sign of discord at Ri's last public appearance at a high-level event barely a week ago.

The decision to dismiss the 69-year-old from top military and political posts was made at a Workers' Party meeting Sunday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. It was not immediately clear who would take Ri's place, and the dispatch did not elaborate on his condition or future.

Daniel Pinkston, a North Korea analyst at the International Crisis Group, was skeptical of the illness claim, in part because of Ri's recent apparent health. He also said Ri won his major promotions at a September 2010 party conference but received none in April, which stirred speculation about the general's future.

FULL story at link.



Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120716/DA01PCHO1.html

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In this Sunday, April 15, 2012 file photo released by the Korean Central News Agency and distributed by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, smiles with the Korean People's Army senior officers, Vice Marshal and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Choe Ryong Hae, center, and Vice Marshal and the military's General Staff Chief Ri Yong Ho, during a mass military parade in Kim Il Sung Square to celebrate the centenary of the birth of his grandfather, national founder Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea said Monday, July 16, 2012 it has relieved Ri Yong Ho from all posts because of illness. (AP Photo/Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service)

[DetlefK]

1. Getting rid of the "old boys", so they won't hinder his ideas.

There's only one conclusion: Kim Jong Un has started a long-term game to cement his power against established bureaucrats and military leaders.

A big question remains: What about the nepotism in his family? Will he spread power to his family or will he draw it from them and build a network of lackeys?