North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) inspects a recently remodeled trout farm under the North’s Army Unit No. 580 in the North’s Kangwon Province, in this photo released by the North’s state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper on May 11, 2015. The paper, published by the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, also said Kim examined a cattle ranch under the same Army unit. It was not reported when the photo was taken. (Yonhap)
Since this report comes from the South Korea’s National Intelligence Service I give it a little more credence than reports that come from defectors:
Hyon Yong-chol (circled), minister of North Korea’s People’s Armed Forces, appears to have his eyes closed during an event for military officials presided over by Kim Jong-un (center), held on April 24 and 25, in a photo published by the North Korean daily Rodong Sinmun on April 26. South Korea’s spy agency reported Wednesday that Hyon was executed after possibly being accused of having dozed off late last month. [Rodong Sinmun]North Korea executed its defense chief late last month, South Korea’s spy agency reported Wednesday, the latest chapter in leader Kim Jong-un’s reign of terror.
A firing squad executed the defense minister with an antiaircraft gun, the agency said.
Four-star Gen. Hyon Yong-chol, minister of North Korea’s People’s Armed Forces, was executed around April 30 at a military academy in Pyongyang with hundreds of senior military officials watching, said the National Intelligence Service (NIS), citing multiple sources but refusing to disclose them in detail.
The spy agency said Hyon could have been charged with treason but it was likely that he was executed because he showed some sign of disrespect to leader Kim Jong-un rather than plotting a rebellion.
The NIS said Hyon had expressed dissatisfaction with Kim Jong-un’s governing style, without elaborating further. The agency said Hyon dozing off at a military event held on April 24 and 25 in Pyongyang might have sealed his fate.
In a photo published by the state-run daily Rodong Sinmun on April 26, Hyon appeared to have his eyes closed during an event for military officials presided over by Kim Jong-un, who was seated in the center in the front row. Hyon was seated to Kim’s left. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but it is a good thing that the US military doesn’t have this execution policy when people nod off in hours long meetings because we would not have a military.
Here is the latest from the North Korea rumor mill:
Mr. Park shifts uncomfortably in his seat. As one of the most senior North Korean officials to ever defect, he was preparing to tell the ugly truth about the regime he served faithfully for decades.
This is not his real name; he wants his identity hidden for fear of retribution against friends and family still in Pyongyang. It’s not surprising when you hear what he has to say.
His first allegation is shocking. He claims North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his own aunt, a blood relative, to be poisoned. “On May 5th or 6th of last year,” says Park. “Kim Jong Un ordered his aunt, Kim Kyong Hui to be killed. Only his bodyguard unit, Unit 974, knew this — now senior officials also know she was poisoned.” [CNN]
You can read more at the link, but statements like this from defectors needs to be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism which the media usually doesn’t care about.
In this March 26, 2015 photo, taken by Google Earth, a 550-meter-long, 15-meter-wide runway for light planes lies parallel to an existing train station for only North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’ s use, located near his cottage in Wonsan on the North’s east coast. The Washington-based Radio Free Asia reported on May 8, 2015, that the runway’s construction has been completed. (Yonhap)
Like any of these reports from anonymous sources, treated them with a healthy dose of skepticism because who knows if they are true:
North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has demanded that officials “go to South Korea if they have to” to arrest those who defected on his birthday, according to Radio Free Asia (RFA).
The non-profit news outlet quoted internal sources as saying Kim was furious when told that 16 North Koreans defected on February 16.
“During Kim’s birthday, the nation was under a special warning period for defecting, and when reported by his officials, Kim ordered them to send out an arrest squad to catch the ‘fleed family,'” the source was quoted as saying.
The source also said officials were threatened with punishment if they failed to bring back the defectors from North Hamgyong Province. [Korea Times]
It looks like Kim Jong-un got cold feet and decided not to travel to Russia after all:
South Korea sees no abnormal signs in North Korea which might have caused its leader, Kim Jong-un, to cancel his planned trip to Russia next week, a Defense Ministry official said Friday.
On Thursday, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that the North Korean leader will not visit Moscow for a celebration to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, saying that the decision “is related to internal Korean affairs.”
South Korean and Russian officials had expected the leader of the reclusive nation to attend a military parade and hold a bilateral meeting with Putin. It would have been his first foreign trip since taking office in 2011 upon the death of his father, Kim Jong-il.
“We don’t believe that any notable internal affairs are taking place in North Korea (that are) serious enough to cause Kim not to attend the event,” the official said, requesting anonymity. [Korea Times]
You can read the rest at the link, but experts think that Kim Jong-un decided not to go because he is not ready to share the stage with many other national leaders.
Since this is coming from the South Korean spy agency it is likely that they did receive some pretty good intelligence that this did happen:
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the execution of 15 senior officials this year as punishment for challenging his authority, South Korea’s spy agency told a closed-door parliament meeting on Wednesday.
A vice minister for forestry was one of the officials executed for complaining about a state policy, a member of parliament’s intelligence committee, Shin Kyung-min, quoted an unnamed National Intelligence Service official as saying.
“Excuses or reasoning doesn’t work for Kim Jong Un, and his style of rule is to push through everything, and if there’s any objection, he takes that as a challenge to authority and comes back with execution as a showcase,” Shin said.
“In the four months this year, fifteen senior officials are said to have been executed,” Shin cited the intelligence official as saying, according to his office. [Reuters]
You can read more at the link, but I wonder what the Vice Minister of Forestry was complaining about? The lack of trees to manage?
it looks like Kim Jong-un can now add climbing a snowy mountain peak in a black trench coat and loafers to his resume of incredible feats:
Kim Jong Un scaled Mount Paektu, the highest mountain on the Korean peninsula, on Saturday, according to North Korea’s state-controlled newspaper, Rodong Sinmun. The Rodong Sinmun further reported that Kim delivered a speech, three days after the celebration of Kim Il Sung’s 103rd birthday, on the significance of Mount Paektu.
Climbing the 2,744 m (9,003 ft) Mt. Paektu is no mean feat; doing so in a double-breasted wool overcoat and oxfords is… wait for it… legend-ary.
The western press has lapped up Kim Jung-un’s precious use of pabulum as reported in the Rodong Shinmun: “When one climbs snow-stormy Mt. Paektu and undergoes the blizzards over it, one can experience its real spirit and harden the resolution to accomplish the Korean revolution. Climbing Mt. Paektu provides precious mental pabulum more powerful than any kind of nuclear weapon and it is the way for carrying forward the revolutionary traditions of Paektu and giving steady continuity to the glorious Korean revolution.” [The Marmot’s Hole]
You can read the rest at the link,such as how amazed I continue to be at how poor the North Korean propaganda department’s photoshop skills are. Isn’t there like a 16-year old teenager in China they can outsource this to?
I don’t think too many world leaders would want to have a photo op with Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un; so I can’t blame President Park for turning down this invitation:
South Korean President Park Geun-hye is not expected to attend Russia’s World War II victory anniversary celebration next month, an event North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is scheduled to show up at.
Instead, Park will dispatch a special envoy to Moscow, the ruling Saenuri Party’s Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun, South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday.
There was anticipation of a possible summit between the North and South Korean leaders at the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II on May 9 should Park have chosen to accept the Kremlin’s invitation.
Russia invited world leaders, including Park and Kim, to the event last December. North Korea’s Kim accepted the invitation last month, according to Russian officials.
Kim, should he visit Russia next month for the event, would be embarking on his first foreign trip after succeeding his father in December 2011. It would mark the first time a North Korean leader did not visit China as his first overseas destination. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
