North Korea’s top three military officials have been removed

Since confirming the 12th June historic summit with N.Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, that will take place in Singapore, it has been revealed that North Korea’s top three military officials have been removed from their posts.

• Trump sparks up increased trade tensions and confirms N.Korea summit 12 June – Nomura

A senior US official spoke on condition of anonymity and was commenting on a report by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency that all three of the North’s top military officials were believed to have been replaced, the Guardian news reported:

Citing an unnamed intelligence official, Yonhap said No Kwang-chol, first vice minister of the Ministry of People’s armed forces, had replaced Pak Yong-sik, while Ri Myong-su was replaced by his deputy, Ri Yong-gil. It said army general Kim Su-gil’s replacement of Kim Jong-gak was confirmed in a North Korean state media report last month.

Lower-level US-North Korean talks to prepare for the summit are continuing but have made only “halting progress,” according to a second US official briefed on the discussions.

In a remarkable shift in tone eight days after cancelling the summit, citing Pyongyang’s “open hostility,” Trump welcomed North Korea’s former intelligence chief Kim Yong-chol to the White House on Friday, afterward exchanging smiles and handshakes