Agence France-Presse,
Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has reshuffled the National Defence Commission which he heads to strengthen his grip on power in the communist state, news reports and analysts said Monday. The reshuffle increases the number of full-time senior staff at the commission which has become the North's most powerful body under Kim's “army-first” policy, Seoul's Yonhap news agency and newspapers said.
General Ri Myong-Su, formerly armed forces operations director, was recently named to serve exclusively as a standing member of the commission, Yonhap said quoting an unnamed source.
It followed the April appointment of Vice Marshal Kim Yong-Chun as full-time vice chairman of the commission after he quit as military chief of staff, it said.
The military top brass of the nuclear-armed nation had previously usually assumed dual posts, both at the commission and with the armed forces.
The National Intelligence Service, Seoul's main spy agency, refused to confirm the news reports. “We are still checking it,” a spokesman told AFP.
Local media said the reshuffle heralds a further strengthening of the already powerful National Defence Commission (NDC).
“The NDC seems to have become, at least externally, the North's highest decision-making body as a number of top military officials have recently been appointed to permanent posts of the defence commission,” the source told Yonhap.
“We believe the NDC may become an actual (properly structured) organisation in the near future with hundreds of resident staff like the other top decision-making bodies” such as the ruling Workers' Party, the official added.
Nam Sung-Wook, a North Korea expert at Korea University, said the reshuffle was part of Kim's long-standing policy of checks and balances.
“Kim has regularly conducted military reshuffles to foil any possible challenge from the military and thus further tighten his grip on power,” Nam told AFP. “He never tolerates a powerful number two.”
The latest reshuffle also affected some key army posts, Yonhap said.
General Kim Myong-Kuk has replaced Ri as military operations director and Lieutenant General Chung Tae-Keun was newly named as deputy propaganda chief at the military's political bureau, it said.
The National Defence Commission, led by Kim Jong-Il since 1998, reportedly has full power to name key generals, mobilise troops and even declare a state of war or emergency.
Kim has built up his power base within the all-powerful 1.1 million-strong military by pushing a Songun (army-first) policy, which prioritises the welfare of troops over civilians.
