Three of North Korea's top military officials have been replaced, a South Korean news agency reported yesterday, marking an apparent shake-up in leader Kim Jong Un's inner circle before next week's planned summit with US President Donald Trump.
The report by the Yonhap news agency, citing an intelligence source, could not be independently verified.
But, if confirmed, the moves raise two contrasting scenarios: part of a reorganisation in military leadership by Kim, or possibly a far-reaching intervention to bring in younger military overseers to replace older ranks possibly at odds with his outreach to the United States and South Korea.
The officials who reportedly were dropped are from some of the highest reaches of the North's military structure, including Ri Myong Su, the chief of general staff for the Korean People's Army. Ri was thought to be a confidant of Kim's father, the late leader Kim Jong Il. The others dismissed, according to Yonhap, were defence chief Pak Yong Sik and Kim Jong Gak, director of the political bureau of the North Korean army.
It was unclear when the changes were carried out, but plans to replace Kim Jong Gak were reported in the North Korean media last month.
