|
The robust and stocky Ri showed no sign of illness when he spoke in late April at a meeting of top officials marking the 80th anniversary of the army's founding. He was shown in photos on July 6 chatting with Pyongyang residents and two days later joined Kim Jong Un at the Kumsusan mausoleum to pay respects to Kim Il Sung. "Whether because of a physical malady or political sin, Ri Yong Ho is out, and Pyongyang is letting the world know to not expect to hear about him anymore," said John Delury, an assistant professor at Yonsei University's Graduate School of International Studies in South Korea. Ri's departure could mean he lost a power struggle with rising star Choe Ryong Hae, the military's top political officer tasked with supervising the army, said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor at Seoul's Dongguk University. Choe was promoted to several top posts and was one of three new vice marshals North Korea announced earlier this year. "Perhaps (Ri) was always meant to be a transitional regent figure, and his function is played," Delury said. Little is known about Hyon, the career officer newly named a vice marshal, which analysts say is one of the highest military ranks North Korea bestows. According to North Korean state media, Hyon was named a member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, a top decision-making body, in September 2010. In another sign of his rise, he served on the funeral committee for Kim Jong Il in December. Ri had been one of nine vice marshals in North Korea, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry. But Cheong Seong-chang, an analyst at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea, said the fact that Hyon was granted the title immediately after Ri's departure suggests that he is "the strongest candidate" to succeed Ri as military chief. The reshuffle comes amid North Korean threats in recent months to attack South Korea's president and Seoul's conservative media, angry over perceived insults to its leadership and U.S.-South Korean military drills that Pyongyang says are a prelude to an invasion. A North Korean artillery attack in 2010 killed four South Koreans. The Korean Peninsula has remained locked in a state of war and divided since a truce in 1953 ended three years of fighting. The United States said Monday that without fundamental change in policy direction, personnel changes in North Korea's military leadership would mean little. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell urged the North to feed and educate its people rather than pour "scarce resources into nuclear, missile and other military programs."
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries
Community |
Perspectives
|
Law & Courts |
Leisure Time
|
Spiritual Life |
Health & Fitness |
Teen Scene
Calendar
|
Letters to the Editor