Out
with the old guard in
Pyongyang By Kosuke Takahashi
TOKYO - General Kim Jong-eun was a highly
competitive little boy with a strong fighting
instinct, according to Kenji Fujimoto, a Japanese
sushi chef who worked for the late former North
Korean leader Kim Jong-il from 1989 to 2001.
In The North's successor, Kim
Jong-eun, Fujimoto writes that he was Kim
Jong-eun's favorite playmate in Pyongyang when Kim
junior was aged between seven and 18. The "general
Jong-eun," as Fujimoto has called him, was
rambunctious and quick-tempered, he says.
When Kim Jong-eun progressed into his
mid-teens, he began to show strong leadership
skills, even during sport activities. Every time
after a basketball match was finished, the young
master was quick to point out the good and bad
points of each of his
teammates, sometimes
offering them a compliment by clapping his hands
and sometimes giving them a thorough scolding -
making a different response to each of them
explicitly.
Kim Jong-eun's desire to
project himself as a strong, natural leader can be
seen in the major military reshuffle launched this
week. While young Kim has been granted the title
of "marshal", the chief of the army, Ri Yong Ho,
69, was dismissed from all posts due to "illness".
Little-known general Hyon Yong Chol was then
promoted to vice marshal.
"This reshuffle
suggests Kim Jong-eun aims to cap off personnel
affairs," Hideshi Takesada, a professor at Yonsei
University of South Korea, told Asia Times Online.
"This shows he is now strong enough to take bold
action."
The shake-ups this week are the
most significant since Kim Jong-eun took power in
December after his father's death. The title of
"marshal" given to Kim Jong-eun is the communist
state's second-highest ranking following
"generalissimo", which has been held only by his
late grandfather, Kim Il-sung, and his father. In
North Korea, "generalissimo" and "marshal" are the
titles of the state. Lower ranks below "vice
marshal" are military titles.
Only two
people, Kim Jong-eun and Ri Ul-sol, a retired
former anti-Japanese partisan fighter, have been
bestowed the title of "marshal". Ten military men,
including Ri Yong-ho, Hyon Yong-chol and Choe
Ryong-hae, the present director of the General
Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army (KPA), have been granted the
title "vice marshal".
Ousting the old
guard Experts believe Kim Jong-eun intended
to internally purge members of the old guard, such
as Ri, who were cherished by his father. They also
say North Korea's young leader and his closest
aides will only allow Songun
(military-first) politics to operate within a
framework that ensures the party's superiority
over the military.
While initially it was
believed that the reshuffle went smoothly,
intelligence reports have since emerged from the
North claiming that a gun battle broke out when Ri
was being removed from office, with 20 to 30
soldiers reportedly killed.
South Korea's Chosun Ilbo reported on Friday that the
battle erupted when Vice Marshal Choe tried to
detain Ri in the process of carrying out leader
Kim Jong-eun's order to sack him. "We cannot rule
out the possibility that Ri was injured or even
killed in the firefight," one source told the
newspaper.
"Ri Yong-ho and his parents had
strong family ties with the late Kim Jong-il,"
said Takesada. "Purging Ri means Kim Jong-eun may
want to go against his father's will. A recent
musical gala featuring Disney characters in
Pyongyang may be another example of his departure
from his father's policy."
It is a well
known fact young Kim at the age of eight, together
with his elder brother, Kim Jong-chol, visited
Tokyo Disneyland in 1991.
Ri played a key
role in helping the young heir to establish a
powerbase among the military, whose support is key
to regime stability. As a career military man, Ri
assumed the post of chief of general staff of the
KPA in February 2009. He was then appointed vice
chairman of the party's Central Military
Commission in September 2010 when Kim Jong-eun
established his status as successor to his father.
Ri was one of eight officials who escorted the
hearse carrying Kim Jong-il during his funeral in
December 2011.
Yonsei University's
Takesada say it was Ri, known as a hardliner, who
masterminded the sinking of a South Korean naval
vessel and the North Korean bombardment of
Yeonpyeong Island in 2010.
However, Ri's
influence has been declining for the past few
months. His main rival, Choe Ryong-hae, 62, had
already started to strengthen his clout by
becoming director of the General Political Bureau
of the KPA in April and receiving the title of
vice marshal.
On April 15, Choe, not Ri,
stood beside Kim Jong-eun at the high podium
during a military parade to celebrate the
centenary of the birth of North Korea's founder
Kim Il-sung. This signaled that Choe had
effectively robbed Ri of his position of the young
general's as top aide.
Choe is a son of
Choe Hyon, a former minister of the People's Armed
Forces and close comrade of Kim Il-sung during his
days as a partisan fighter against the occupying
Japanese.
Choe Ryong-hae, known among the
intelligence community as a vigorous and radical
figure, in April completed the climb to the top of
the ladder by becoming one of the five members of
the decision-making Politburo Presidium of the
WPK, as well as vice chairman of the party's
central military commission. (Since Ri was
removed, the presidium has only four members -
namely Kim Jong-eun, Choe Ryong-hae, Kim Yong-nam,
the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme
People's Assembly, and Choe Yong-rim, the nation's
premier.)
The rise of Choe Ryong-hae,
despite his previous civilian status in the
Workers' Party, has coincided with Kim Jong-eun's
ascent to power. This means that Choe is Kim
Jong-eun's strong favorite and top aide. Choe is
also known to be close to Kim junior's uncle, Jang
Song-taek.
Experts such as Takesada
believe that Choe along with Jang Song-taek, a
vice chairman of the National Defense Commission,
and his wife, Kim Kyong-hui, Kim Jong-il's younger
sister and a secretary of the party's Central
Committee, are strongly supporting Kim Jong-eun as
guardians. Jang Song-taek has strong connections
with the military as his older brother was a vice
marshal of the KPA and his younger brother was a
lieutenant general.
However, observers
aren't certain on how the recent reshuffle will
impact on chances of Chinese-style economic
reform.
'Skin-ship' strategy In
recent video and photos, Kim Jong-eun appears to
have intensified his efforts to visit military
camps, factories, farms and kindergartens, more
recently accompanied by a young lady. An officer
from the South Korean intelligence community told
Asia Times Online that "it has not yet been
confirmed" who she is.
This outgoing
approach makes the young Kim seem a lot like
grandfather Kim Il-sung and is a big departure
from Kim Jong-il's apparent desire to avoid the
public eye.
The young general's openness
is also seen in the unexpected news that he has
invited his former sushi chef and playmate,
Fujimoto, to revist North Korea as a guest.
"Since I was invited by General Kim
Jong-un, I cannot refuse," Kyodo quoted Fujimoto
as saying at Narita Airport on Friday.
Kosuke Takahashi is a
Tokyo-based Japanese journalist. Besides Asia
Times Online, he also writes for Jane's Defence
Weekly as Tokyo correspondent. His twitter is
@TakahashiKosuke
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