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Ri Erased from Kim Funeral Committee By Lee Sang Yong [2013-06-21 20:26 ] Facebook Twitter Daily NK has learned that Ri Yong Ho [alternate spelling: Lee Young Ho], the former Chosun PeopleÂ’s Army Chief-of-Staff who was purged in July last year, has been erased from the official funeral committee listing of Kim Jong Il. Ri had been behind then-Prime Minister Choi Young Rim in fourth place on the committee list, which, in its original form, serves as a key indicator of the relative power of officials at the time of Kim Jong IlÂ’s death in December 2011. Daily NK gathered...

Purged North Korean army chief ousted for 'defying orders' North Korea's Army chief Ri Yong-ho may have been ousted for defying orders and moving troops near Pyongyang during a military exercise, South Korean intelligence sources told a major South Korean news agency. Martin Foster, Tokyo 7:00AM BST 27 Jul 2012 The troop move drew the ire of Ri's main rivals Jang Song-taek, the uncle and guardian of leader Kim Jong-un, and Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae, Chosun.com reported. While it is clear that the situation on the Korean peninsula was unstable following the death of Kim Jong-il, the news agency makes...

N.Korean Army Chief's Ouster 'Carefully Plotted' The North Korean regime meticulously planned the ouster of Army chief Ri Yong-ho, informed sources here said Sunday. One source said North Korean eminence grise Jang Song-taek, the uncle of leader Kim Jong-un, and Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae prepared the firing by checking ammunition supplies at military bases directly under Ri's command and stepped up surveillance of any army divisions Ri could mobilize in his defense. South Korean intelligence apparently noticed this before Ri was fired. As vice chairman of the National Defense Commission, Jang controls the State Security Department, police and other security...

N.Korean Army Chief 'Refused to Go Quietly' A gunbattle broke out when the North Korean regime removed army chief Ri Yong-ho from office, leaving 20 to 30 soldiers dead, according to unconfirmed intelligence reports. Some intelligence analysts believe Ri, who has not been seen since his abrupt sacking earlier this week, was injured or killed in the confrontation. According to government officials here, the gunbattle erupted when Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae, the director of the People's Army General Political Bureau, tried to detain Ri in the process of carrying out leader Kim Jong-un's order to sack him. Guards protecting Ri,...

What's Behind the Ouster of N.Korean Army Chief? North Korea's official announcement that the chief of the Army's General Staff, Ri Yong-ho, has been relieved of all his posts was "unusual," an official in South Korea's Unification Ministry said. Politburo meetings like the one on Sunday that decided to sack Ri were almost unheard of under late leader Kim Jong-il, let alone publicized, even though it nominally remained the communist country's top decision-making body. Once the one-man dictatorship was established firmly under nation founder Kim Il-sung, the Politburo degenerated into a rubber-stamp body, and Kim Jong-il rarely summoned it, according...

DPRK awards Hyon Yong Chol title of KPA vice marshal English.news.cn 2012-07-17 05:38:18 PYONGYANG, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Hyon Yong Chol was awarded the title of vice marshal of the Korean People's Army (KPA), reported KCNA, the official news agency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), early Tuesday. According to the report, the decision to award the title was made by the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and the National Defense Commission of the DPRK on Monday. Hyon was a general of the KPA before the promotion. On Monday, Pyongyang announced that KPA...

North Korea's ruling party has removed a top military official close to the center of power, suggesting new leader Kim Jong-un and his closest advisers may be purging the ruling elite to strengthen their grip on the secretive state. -excerpt- Vice Marshal Ri Yong-ho, who was seen as close to Kim's dictator father, was relieved of his posts in the Workers' Party of Korea at a politburo meeting on Sunday including the powerful role of vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, the state KCNA news agency said on Monday.

2012/07/16 07:41 KST N. Korea's army chief Ri Yong-ho relieved of all posts SEOUL, July 16 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Monday that its army chief Ri Yong-ho, known as a confidant of leader Kim Jong-un, has been removed from all his posts because of his "illness." "A meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party decided to relieve Ri Yong-ho of all his posts for his illness," the North's Korean Central News Agency said in a brief dispatch from Pyongyang. The 70-year-old Ri was previously known as a key figure who helped Kim seize...