Some people may try to read more into this, but Ri Yong-gil is replacing someone 84 years old. This may just be a natural leadership transition or horse trading to appease different powerbroker within North Korea. I can remember when it was believed that Ri was executed by Kim Jong-un, now here he is as chief of the military:
Ri Yong Gil, an alternate member of the Political Bureau of the C. C., the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), is pictured in this Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) handout photo released May 10, 2016.
North Korea’s state media confirmed on Friday that Ri Yong Gil has become the new chief of the military’s general staff, the latest in leader Kim Jong Un’s leadership change.
As Kim shifts the focus to the economy and pursues diplomacy with the United States, he has been replacing older, more conservative officers who were wedded to the country’s nuclear doctrine with loyalists who would follow any changes he may make, U.S. officials and analysts say.
The North’s official KCNA agency said Ri accompanied Kim on his visit to a war veterans’ cemetery as the army’s chief of general staff, marking the 65th anniversary of the armistice agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
Ri formerly held the four-star position before he was briefly demoted deputy chief and three stars for an unspecified reason in 2016.
His return adds the recent appointments of No Kwang Chol, first vice defense minister, as the defense chief, and Army General Kim Su Gil as director of the military’s powerful General Political Bureau.
All of the newly promoted officials are younger than their predecessors, even though they are all in their 60s. Ri is 63 years old, 21 years younger than his predecessor, Ri Myong Su. [Reuters]
According to NK Leadership Watch Ri’s prior issues that led to his supposed execution had to do with his unhappiness with what he felt was unearned authority in military affairs given to Workers Party members. Whatever issues had previously occurred between him, the Workers Party, and Kim Jong-un have been clearly ironed out.
I can only imagine what the bill the Kim regime would demand the US pay to search for war remains within North Korea:
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis acknowledged Friday the Pentagon could send military teams into North Korea to search for the remains.
Pentagon officials previously said North Korea had already excavated about 200 sets of remains of fallen American soldiers. North Korea experts suggested that the regime would want compensation for recovering the remains, which in turn could jeopardize the U.S.-led economic sanctions on North Korea.
After vowing to continue putting ‘maximum pressure’ on the North until it is fully denuclearized, the Trump administration now faces a dilemma as it may have to make a deal with North Korea to continue the excavation work without appearing to make compromises.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News. [KBS World Radio]
North Korea’s Korean War veterans arrive in Pyongyang on July 25, 2018, to attend an event there in this photo carried by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). (Yonhap)
Calling all surfers, if you are looking for place to surf poor waves, with no Internet access, and the threat of detention & torture, the Kim regime has a deal for you. An added benefit is that all proceeds of this assuredly outrageously overpriced tour go towards maintaining a nuclear weapons program to threaten the world with, maintaining of gulags, and expensive luxury items for regime elite:
Tourists enjoy surfing in the East Sea of North Korea. Courtesy of DPRK Today
If you love surfing, North Korea’s East Sea coast could be your next destination.
Although the waves are not very high in July and August, there are some regions where you can enjoy surfing, according to North Korean propaganda media DPRK Today’s Sunday report.
A surfing tour of North Korea’s East Sea has been hosting many tourists from around the world. The tour includes a week of surfing, plus sightseeing trips to Pyongyang, Mount Myohyang, Gaeseong and other major tourist destinations.
For those who have a high level of surfing skills, October-November is a better choice, the report said. But sea temperatures are much cooler. [Korea Times]
Here is the latest on any drawdown of US troops in South Korea:
The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a defense authorization bill that restricts any drawdown of American troops in South Korea.
The John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act, which approves US$716 billion for defense in fiscal year 2019, passed the House by a vote of 359-54. Upon Senate approval, it will be sent to U.S. President Donald Trump to sign into law.
The bill notes that about 28,500 American troops are currently stationed in South Korea as a demonstration of the U.S. commitment to the bilateral alliance.
Their “significant removal” is “a non-negotiable item as it relates to the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization” of North Korea, the bill says under a section describing the Sense of Senate on U.S. military forces on the Korean Peninsula.
In a conference report accompanying the legislation, Congress also prohibits the use of the funds to reduce the troops’ number below 22,000 without certification from the secretary of defense that “such a reduction is in the national security interest of the United States and will not significantly undermine the security of United States allies in the region.” [Yonhap]
President Trump may be thankful towards the Kim regime for the return of the remains, but I think he has found out that even a simple issue like this is more difficult and drawn out than it needs to be by the regime. Imagine how long and drawn out they will try and make any denuclearization process?:
Military personnel carry boxes containing the remains of U.S. soldiers, killed in the 1950-53 Korean War, out of the C-17 Globemaster, a U.S. Air Force transport aircraft, at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, about 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on July 27, 2018. The transport aircraft airlifted the remains of U.S. soldiers from Kalma Airport in North Korea’s eastern coastal city of Wonsan. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
U.S. President Donald Trump thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday for ”fulfilling a promise” to return the remains of U.S. soldiers missing from the Korean War, as a U.S. military plane made a rare trip into North Korea to retrieve 55 cases said to contain remains.
Close to 7,700 U.S. soldiers remain unaccounted for from the 1950-53 Korean War, and about 5,300 of those were lost in North Korea.
North Korea’s move signals a positive step in Trump’s diplomacy with Pyongyang, and may restart efforts to send U.S. teams into the country to search for additional war dead.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis cautioned that the transfer of remains ”is separate” from what has so far been troubled efforts to negotiate the complete denuclearization of North Korea. But he said it was a step in the right direction following the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore.
”This is obviously a gesture of carrying forward what they agreed to in Singapore and we take it as such,” Mattis told reporters Friday. ”We also look at it as a first step of a restarted process. So we do want to explore additional efforts to bring others home.” [Korea Times]
On the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the Korean War armistice here's some Ethiopian veterans visiting Chuncheon, where there's a memorial to their service (and an Ethiopian-themed coffee shop). One gent said he'd returned to look for his missing arm. pic.twitter.com/3USsQrZlrP
North Korean artists perform at an event in Pyongyang on July 25, 2018, to mark the anniversary of the signing of the Korean armistice agreement in this photo carried by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) the following day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
