Purge continues? Pyongyang army chief of staff executed – report

North Korea’s army chief of staff has been executed, South Korean media reported, in what would amount to the latest in a series of purges and executions of top officials by leader Kim Jong-Un. Ri Yong-Gil, Chief of the Korean People’s Army General Staff was executed earlier this month for forming a political faction and for corruption. The report came at a time of highly elevated tensions on the divided Korean peninsula following the North’s recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. South Korea has decided to suspend all operations at a jointly run Kaesong industrial park in North Korea, saying Pyongyang had been using it to fund its nuclear weapons programs.  Japan also announced fresh sanctions against North Korea for its latest rocket launch, including a total ban on shipping from the country and barring Pyongyang’s nationals from entering. 

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