- 12 Μάιος 2016, 12:21
#254589
NY Times διαβάζουμε;
SEOUL, South Korea — When the North Korean state news media on Tuesday published lists of officials newly selected for senior posts, at least one name came as a surprise: Ri Yong-gil, a prominent general.
In February, South Korean officials said General Ri had been executed on corruption charges. But according to the North Korean reports Tuesday, he is not only alive but a member of the Central Committee of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, as well as its Central Military Commission.
The appointments were made during the Workers’ Party congress that ended Monday, the first such gathering in 36 years. General Ri was also named an alternate member of the Politburo, according to the reports Tuesday.
North Korea makes few goods that the rest of the world wants, but it does specialize in exporting bombastic, bellicose pronouncements.
General Ri had been chief of the North Korean Army’s general staff, the third-ranking figure in the army’s hierarchy, when his name abruptly stopped appearing in state media reports in January. In February, South Korean intelligence officials said General Ri had been executed, apparently the latest senior official to fall in a series of purges and executions that the North’s top leader, Kim Jong-un, has used to consolidate power.
Because North Korea rarely publicizes the executions of top officials, most such reports cannot be independently confirmed. And doubts about General Ri’s supposed execution emerged in the weeks that followed. In March, a South Korean cable channel, MBN, reported that General Ri had been demoted, not executed, and that he had been allowed to return to service.
Pictures released Tuesday by the North Korean state news media seemed to support that theory. General Ri was shown wearing a three-star rather than a four-star insignia, indicating he had been reduced in rank.
South Korean intelligence officials say it is extremely difficult to get reliable information about developments within the North’s opaque government. Officials have disappeared from public view for months at a time, only to resurface later. Early last year, South Korean officials told reporters that Ma Won-chun, a senior general who was in charge of the renovation of the Pyongyang airport, had been purged. But General Ma, it appears, was simply demoted, and he resurfaced later in the year.
On Tuesday, North Korea organized a rally of hundreds of thousands of people in central Pyongyang to mark the end of the party congress. Mr. Kim, accompanied by his newly appointed senior aides, oversaw the rally, which featured parades and slogans of loyalty to his leadership, according to the state news media.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/11/world ... .html?_r=0
SEOUL, South Korea — When the North Korean state news media on Tuesday published lists of officials newly selected for senior posts, at least one name came as a surprise: Ri Yong-gil, a prominent general.
In February, South Korean officials said General Ri had been executed on corruption charges. But according to the North Korean reports Tuesday, he is not only alive but a member of the Central Committee of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, as well as its Central Military Commission.
The appointments were made during the Workers’ Party congress that ended Monday, the first such gathering in 36 years. General Ri was also named an alternate member of the Politburo, according to the reports Tuesday.
North Korea makes few goods that the rest of the world wants, but it does specialize in exporting bombastic, bellicose pronouncements.
General Ri had been chief of the North Korean Army’s general staff, the third-ranking figure in the army’s hierarchy, when his name abruptly stopped appearing in state media reports in January. In February, South Korean intelligence officials said General Ri had been executed, apparently the latest senior official to fall in a series of purges and executions that the North’s top leader, Kim Jong-un, has used to consolidate power.
Because North Korea rarely publicizes the executions of top officials, most such reports cannot be independently confirmed. And doubts about General Ri’s supposed execution emerged in the weeks that followed. In March, a South Korean cable channel, MBN, reported that General Ri had been demoted, not executed, and that he had been allowed to return to service.
Pictures released Tuesday by the North Korean state news media seemed to support that theory. General Ri was shown wearing a three-star rather than a four-star insignia, indicating he had been reduced in rank.
South Korean intelligence officials say it is extremely difficult to get reliable information about developments within the North’s opaque government. Officials have disappeared from public view for months at a time, only to resurface later. Early last year, South Korean officials told reporters that Ma Won-chun, a senior general who was in charge of the renovation of the Pyongyang airport, had been purged. But General Ma, it appears, was simply demoted, and he resurfaced later in the year.
On Tuesday, North Korea organized a rally of hundreds of thousands of people in central Pyongyang to mark the end of the party congress. Mr. Kim, accompanied by his newly appointed senior aides, oversaw the rally, which featured parades and slogans of loyalty to his leadership, according to the state news media.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/11/world ... .html?_r=0
