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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stands next to Hwang Pyong-so, Vice Marshal in the Korean People’s Army, at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang in Feb. 2016. (Yonhap News)
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The NIS reported that the head of the NK General Political Bureau had received punishment
During a briefing on Nov. 20, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) told the National Assembly’s National Intelligence Committee that there were reports indicating that North Korea was carrying out a political audit of the General Political Bureau of the North Korean People’s Army, the first such audit in 20 years. As part of the audit, the NIS said, the regime had punished Vice Marshal Hwang Pyong-so, whose position as head of the bureau gives him authority over military appointments. “We have received intelligence that Choe Ryong-hae [vice chair of the central committee of the North Korean Workers’ Party] is leading a political audit of the General Political Bureau for the first time in 20 years after taking issue with its ‘impure attitude’ toward the party. Our intelligence also indicates that political officers in the General Political Bureau, including Director Hwang Pyong-so and First Vice Director Kim Won-hong, have been punished,” the NIS said during its briefing to the National Intelligence Committee on trends in North Korea.
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General Political Bureau Director Hwang Pyong-so (left) and First Vice Director Kim Won-hong
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