North Korean army chief removed from office‎

The official Korean Central News Agency said a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Workers’ Party on Sunday decided to relieve 69-year-old Ri Yong-ho from all his political posts. There was no word on whether he had also lost his position as military chief.

The seven – including Kim’s powerful uncle Jang Song-thaek – were considered central figures in bolstering the new regime led by Kim, who is believed to be in his late 20s.

Ri was seen accompanying Kim recently as the leader paid tribute in a ceremony in Pyongyang to his late grandfather Kim il-Sung on the anniversary of his death in 1994.

The North’s military has in recent months ratcheted up hostile rhetoric towards South Korea and President Lee Myung-bak partly in a bid to burnish its new leader’s credentials.

The North last month denounced US-South Korean drills near the tense border as a “provocation” and vowed to “further bolster up its nuclear deterrent”, state media reported.

It was the latest sign of high tensions after the North’s failed rocket launch in April, seen by the US and its allies as an attempted ballistic missile test.