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)
North Korea's top three military officials replaced, U.S. official says https://t.co/InoeJlXV8i
— TheLastRefuge (@TheLastRefuge2) June 3, 2018
Reuters […] U.S. officials believe there was some dissension in the military about Kim’s approaches to South Korea and the United States….