“My guess: This is bad news. He is not in agreement with Kim about the next step (Pak is promoting better relations with the West according to a little bird)”
Well, he is 80 yrs old. Then again, could be forced permanent retirement
True, or he consumed something bad at the cement factory a few days ago. https://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2019/12/30/2019123002095.html
According to this http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/politics/defense/922664.html the military and diplomatic measures will be made public on Jan 1, i.e. no firecrackers tomorrow.