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N.KOREA PURGES PARTY, MILITARY

The Chosun Ilbo, February 5, 2010

The North Korean regime is purging senior military and party officials. In the Workers' Party, the heads of the financial and economic sections have been sacked over the disastrous currency reform and international sanctions, and in the military, officers in their 70s and 80s from the era of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung are making way for younger military leaders in their 50s and 60s.

Party Purges

In the Workers' Party, three key economic figures have been replaced. Finance Director Pak Nami-gi was apparently axed on Jan 20, taking the fall for the failed currency revaluation late last year. "Room 39" bureau director Kim Tong-un was recently replaced by his deputy Jon Il-chun after having managed the regime's secret coffers for 36 years. A source says that Kim Tong-un was replaced because he was put under a personal travel ban by the EU in December last year and it was difficult for him to manage overseas funds for the North Korean leader.

Han Kwang-sang was apparently promoted from first deputy of the finance and accounting department to head, which has been vacant for a long time. The department is in charge of managing party funds. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il last month tapped Vice Foreign Minister Kim Yong-il, who is familiar with Chinese affairs and served as the chief negotiator to the six-way nuclear talks, as the head of the party's department for international affairs. An intelligence officer in Seoul says the appointment of Kim Yong-il is likely related to the international sanctions, which were imposed after the North conducted its second nuclear test.

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