North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to be applying a sometimes brutal strategy of divide and rule to bring the powerful military under control and assert his supremacy.
Kim used top brass to eliminate generals who harbored discontent and were getting restive as his father Kim Jong-un's "military-first" doctrine seemed to be coming to an end. Then he turned on the top brass itself.
Officials would mutter darkly that the closer you got to Kim Jong-un, the sooner you would meet your end.
◆ Cleansing the Ranks
Kim has apparently been fomenting conflict between top brass in order to ensure their loyalty is only to him. He used Choe Ryong-hae, the director of the Army politburo and the son of a partisan who fought alongside nation founder Kim Il-sung against the Japanese, when he purged Army Chief Ri Yong-ho in 2012.
In time Choe was ousted too, and Kim recently seems to have used the next Army politburo chief Hwang Pyong-so in purging Army chief Hyon Yong-chol. The two officials were apparently rivals and clashed over various issues.
The Army politburo is tasked with monitoring top military brass and reporting their activities to Kim. There is a strong chance that Hwang informed Kim of Hyon's transgressions, although it is not clear what exactly they were.
A photo of Hyon apparently dozing off during one of Kim's speeches was published in the official Rodong Sinmun daily before his ouster. North Korea watchers believe Hwang and Kim's younger sister Yo-jong, who is in charge of propaganda, were responsible.
Lee Soo-seok, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Strategy, said, "There has always been rivalry between the Army and the Army politburo. It appears that Hyon lost the battle and ended up getting purged."
Kim's frequent purges apparently stem from his lack of ease working with antediluvian hawks who rose to power under Kim Jong-il's "military-first" doctrine.
One source said, "Members of the old guard don't wish to accompany Kim Jong-un on his field trips, and Kim apparently got fed up with the aging officials who often fail to grasp what he's saying."
◆ Eliminating the Mentors
The officials who were appointed along with Kim to top military positions in 2010 to keep and eye on him -- Kim Kyong-hui, Hyon Yong-chol, Choe Ryong-hae, Kim Kyong-ok and Choe Pu-il -- are all gone, either purged or demoted or forced to step down.
Kim Kyong-hui, his aunt and widow of former eminence grise Jang Song-taek, has not been spotted since late 2013, when her husband was executed. Hyon was executed recently, reportedly blasted to smithereens with an anti-aircraft gun, and Choe has quit all his posts.
Kim Kyong-ok, who oversaw the military in the Workers Party, apparently quit all of his posts citing health reasons. And Choe Pu-il, who used to be Kim's basketball coach and was in charge of security was demoted after an apartment building collapsed in Pyongyang in 2013 and a shooting incident between security agents.
Those five officials had paved the way for Kim to consolidate his grip on power but soon found that he regarded them too as a threat.
