30 November 2012

News Story: N. Korea’s Defense Chief Replaced by Hawk


SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has replaced his defense chief with a hawkish general in a shakeup apparently aimed at tightening his grip over the military, a report said Nov. 29.

Vice Marshal Kim Jong-Gak was sacked as defense minister after just seven months in office, Yonhap News Agency quoted an unnamed senior South Korean presidential official as saying.

He was replaced by Kim Kyok-Sik, a hawkish general believed to have orchestrated the North’s sinking of a South Korean warship and an artillery attack on a border island in 2010, it said.

Analysts said the re-shuffle, if confirmed, is the latest in a series of top-level personnel changes ordered by Kim Jong-Un since taking over after the death of his father, Kim Jong-Il, a year ago.

Read the full story at DefenseNews