You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
China-Japan-Koreas
Reports soldiers killed in North Korean gunfight
2012-07-21
[ABC.net.au] The South Korean government is investigating unconfirmed intelligence reports that a shootout, leaving between 20 and 30 soldiers dead, broke out when the North Korean regime removed army chief Ri Yong-ho from office.
Since when are they issued bullets?
The Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean daily newspaper, reported that some intelligence analysts believe Mr Ri, who has not been seen since his abrupt sacking earlier this week, was injured or killed in the confrontation.

Citing South Korean government officials, it said the shootout erupted when vice marshal Choe Ryong Hae, director of the People's Army General Political Bureau, tried to detain Mr Ri while carrying out North Korean leader Kim Pudge Jong-un's
...the hereditary potentate of North Korea...
 order to sack him.

Guards protecting Mr Ri, who was a vice marshal, apparently opened fire.

"We cannot rule out the possibility that Ri was injured or even killed in the firefight," one source said.

North Korea's state media said in a surprise announcement on Monday that Mr Ri, a close aide to Mr Kim, had been removed from all his posts due to "illness", sparking speculation he may have been purged amid a power struggle in the core of the Kim regime.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Nunzio had his hands full of angry bleached blonde...
 North Korean soldiers in Pyongyang have celebrated leader Kim Jong-un's appointment as the head of the military with mass choreographed dancing.
NOTE: That statement is not inline. It's in the original, so help me...
Posted by:Fred

#3  This might turn out to be interesting. You remove a military man and put a political man in his place. One has to wonder how loyal the army is going to be to that political guy.

They've either nipped a coup in the bud or have precipitated one. Hard to tell which.
Posted by: crosspatch   2012-07-21 21:06  

#2  given typical NORK marksmanship, that might be dangerous, G.
Posted by: Enver Jones2823   2012-07-21 15:29  

#1  What I wouldn't have given to be a fly on the wall during this incident.
Posted by: gromky   2012-07-21 06:04  

00:00