Pak Jong Chon, Second Most Powerful Military Official In North Korea Fired By Kim Jong Un

PYONGYANG: According to the media, Pak Jong Chon, North Korea's second-highest-ranking military official after the country's leader Kim Jong Un, has been fired.

At the committee's annual meeting last week, Ri Yong Gil took Pak's place as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party and secretary of the central committee, according to the reports on Sunday.

The alteration had no justification provided. Pyongyang frequently changes the makeup of its leadership, and the year-end party celebration is frequently used to make key policy announcements and personnel changes.

Pak was depicted on state television at the meeting sitting in the front row of the podium with his head bowed while other participants raised their hands to vote on personnel matters. His seat was later revealed to be vacant.

In contrast to last October, when Pak joined Kim on a visit to the palace to honour a party anniversary, he was also missing from images of Kim's New Year's Day visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, which is where his grandfather and father's remains are kept.

Above the defence ministry, the Central Military Commission of the party, which is led by Kim, is regarded as the military branch's most powerful decision-making body.

Pak was replaced just as Kim advocated for building up a greater nuclear arsenal and new intercontinental ballistic missiles to challenge the US and South Korea as a crucial component of the isolated nation's 2023 defence plan.

From a one-star artillery commander in 2015 to a four-star general in 2020, Pak had quickly ascended the military ladder, claiming credit for helping the nation's short-range missile technology advance.

Pak became a leading voice against joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises last November after being promoted to the politburo in late 2020 and awarded the title of marshal, the highest military rank under Kim.

Pak experienced ups and downs under Kim, like the majority of other top military advisers, and was briefly demoted in the middle of 2021 after Kim reprimanded some officials for how they handled the country's anti-coronavirus policy. However, he was promoted again a few months later.

Despite Kim generally praising the military's achievements in weaponry development at the discussion, as opposed to other areas where he pointed out some shortcomings and urged improvement, Pak was fired.

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