North Korea's, Kim Jong Un fires top general, asks army to prepare for war
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has fired his top general amid a shakeup of the country’s military leadership and wants his army to “gird for a war,” state media reported Thursday.
Gen. Pak Su Il was dismissed as chief of the General Staff and Vice Marshal Ri Yong Gil was appointed in his place, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Other “leading commanding officers” were dismissed, transferred or appointed during a meeting of the Central Military Commission on Wednesday, KCNA reported, without going into details.
North Korea regularly revamps its military leadership. Some military leaders later reemerge in different positions, while others disappear from public view.
And the career of the new top general Ri – who assumed the No. 2 job in the North Korean military hierarchy as recently as December 31 – reflected that, analysts said.
“Ri Yong Gil is a longstanding member of North Korea’s military elite, who before making it to the top, experienced ups and downs during his career. Seven years ago, he was even rumored to have been executed after a personnel reshuffle,” said Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.
Cheong Seong-chang, a senior analyst at the Sejong Institute private think tank near Seoul, said there may be a range of reasons behind Kim’s military reshuffle and it was not necessarily punitive.
“Since Kim Jong Un has frequently promoted, demoted, and dismissed executives according to their ability to perform duties, dismissal of executives may be holding them accountable, but it is inappropriate to consider them as punishment,” Cheong said.
Easley said the North Korean leader may simply be trying to ensure that no one below him becomes too powerful.
“Kim Jong Un frequently rotates leadership posts below him to prevent the emergence in North Korea of anyone like [Wagner Group founder] Yevgeny Prigozhin, who challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authority after amassing personal control of financial assets and loyalty among armed forces,” Easley said.
