On the same day Vice-Chairman Kim Yong Chol arrives back in Beijing en route to North Korea from a meeting with President Trump, Yonhap News is reporting that the top three officials in the North Korean military have been replaced:

SEOUL/TOKYO, June 3 (Yonhap) — All of North Korea’s three top military officials are believed to have been replaced, an intelligence source said Sunday, in a move that could be aimed at taming the military ahead of a denuclearization deal with the U.S.

No Kwang-chol, first vice minister of the Ministry of People’s Armed Forces, replaced Pak Yong-sik as defense chief, while Ri Myong-su, chief of the KPA’s general staff, was replaced by his deputy, Ri Yong-gil, according to the source.

These changes are in addition to Army Gen. Kim Su-gil’s replacement of Kim Jong-gak as director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People’s Army. The replacement was confirmed in a North Korean state media report last month.

Earlier in the day, a Japanese newspaper carried a similar report.

“The North appears to have brought in new figures amid the changes in inter-Korean relations and the situation on the Korean Peninsula as the previous officials lacked flexibility in thinking,” the source said. “In particular, No Kwang-chol has been classified as a moderate person.”

The changes could also be aimed at taming the military because members of the armed forces could object to a denuclearization deal that leader Kim could make in the summit talks with U.S. President Donald Trump set for June 12 in Singapore. (more)

Reuters […] U.S. officials believe there was some dissension in the military about Kim’s approaches to South Korea and the United States….

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