North Korea has replaced the general linked to Cuban weapons shipment

Posted on Wednesday, 10.16.13

North Korea has replaced the general linked to Cuban weapons shipment
BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM

North Korea has confirmed it replaced the general who was chief of staff
of its military when a Pyongyang-registered freighter carrying Cuban
weapons was seized in Panama, although the two events are probably not
directly related, according to an analyst.

Gen. Kim Kyok Sik was on a temporary appointment to the chief of staff
post, so the freighter's seizure most likely merely provided the proper
time to replace him, said Michael Madden, editor of the Web page North
Korean Leadership Watch.

Kim's departure after less than five months as Chief of the Korean
Peoples Army's General Staff "was only a matter of time. I think the
seizure of the ship in Panama just hurried things along," Madden told El
Nuevo Herald on Monday.

North Korea's official media confirmed last week that Kim had been
replaced by Gen. Ri Yong Gil, Madden added. Unofficial reports of the
switch that made the rounds in August had triggered speculation Kim had
been fired because of the Cuba case.

Kim's name was linked to the scandal surrounding the freighter Chong
Chon Gang because he led a high-ranking military delegation that visited
Havana in July, about the same time the ship was in Cuba loading 420
tons of weapons and 10,000 tons of sugar.

After Panama arrested the ship and found the undeclared weapons before
it entered the Panama Canal on its way to North Korea, the Cuban foreign
ministry described the shipment as "obsolete" weapons sent to be
repaired and returned to Havana.

U.N. Security Council officials are investigating whether the shipment
violated an international arms embargo slapped on Pyongyang since 2006
because of its nuclear weapons and missile development programs.

Kim's replacement was first rumored around the same time that Cuba's
official news media announced that Gen. Pedro Mendiondo Gomez, head of
the island's Anti Aircraft Defense and Revolutionary Air Force, had been
killed in a car accident on Aug. 25.

Mendiondo's title put him in overall charge of two Soviet-made
anti-aircraft missile systems, two MiG 21s warplanes and 16 engines for
the jets found hidden under the tons of Cuban sugar aboard the North
Korean freighter.

The report of Mendiondo's death did not detail where or how the accident
occurred and said his body was cremated. Cuba's official media did not
publish the usual praise for government officials who die, or the usual
photos of the funeral services.

Cuba's report noted that the crash also killed his in-laws, Juan
Rubalcaba Gato and Graciela Terry Aguirre, and severely injured his
wife, Rafaela Rubalcaba Terry. There had been no updates on her
condition or the crash since then.

Madden said he believed Kim's removal as chief of the general staff soon
after the Chong Chon Gang's seizure was a coincidence because the
75-year-old had served in that post before and has a history of
short-term assignments.

Kim first served as chief of the general staff from April 2007 to
February 2009, Madden noted. From July 2011 until October 2012, he was
military advisor to North Korean ruler Kim Jung Un and his father and
predecessor, Kim Jung Il, while publicly holding the position of Vice
Minister of the People's Armed Forces.

He also served as minister of the People's Armed Forces, the equivalent
of defense minister, from October 2012 until May 2013, when he was
appointed to this second term as chief of the general staff

Today, Kim is either retired or is holding a behind-the-scenes role in
the government, Madden added.

Source: "North Korea has replaced the general linked to Cuban weapons
shipment - Cuba - MiamiHerald.com" -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/16/3691643/north-korea-has-replaced-the.html#storylink=misearch