DPRK announces military reshuffle

Satellite images suggest Pyongyang may prepare for more nuclear tests

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea announced a top military reshuffle on Friday that coincided with signs of a looming nuclear test, as a US think tank asserted that Pyongyang has been testing engines for an inter-continental ballistic missile.

On Friday, the DPRK's official media carried a report that showed Kim Jong-un had replaced his top military aide, naming confidant Hwang Pyong-so as the new army political chief.

Hwang replaced Choe Ryong-hae, who was rumored to be in bad health. Choe is the son of a revolutionary fighter who worked with state founder Kim Il-sung.

Hwang was previously deputy director of the ruling Workers' Party's powerful Organizational Guidance Department. The post of the director of the Korean People's Army's General Political Department is seen as the highest position in the 1.2-million-strong army.

The US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said satellite images of the DPRK's Sohae rocket launch site suggested one "and maybe more" recent tests on the engine of what is probably the first stage of a road-mobile ICBM called the KN-08.

It was the latest in a series of similar tests - dating back to mid-2013 - on a missile with a targeted range of up to 11,000 kilometers, the institute said on its website.

"The next technically logical step ... would be a flight test of the entire system," it said.

The successful test of an ICBM capable of reaching the continental United States would take the nuclear challenge posed by Pyongyang to an entirely new level.

Experts believe three nuclear tests have brought the DPRK closer to mastering the miniaturization techniques required to place a nuclear warhead on a missile. Meanwhile, there are signs it is preparing a fourth test, with multiple analyses of recent satellite images all noting stepped-up activity at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site.

"All these activities are consistent with the view that a (nuclear) test or tests will occur soon," the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security said in its latest assessment on Friday.

Missile delivery has often been cited as the main weakness of the DPRK's nuclear weapons program.

It has yet to test its medium-range Musudan missile with a range of up to 4,000 kilometers, let alone an ICBM.

In December 2012, it put a satellite in orbit with a rocket launch, which marked a significant step forward.

Agence France-Presse - Reuters

(China Daily 05/03/2014 page4)