[imText1]It has been confirmed that, just three months after suddenly being demoted, the director of North Korea’s General Bureau of Reconnaissance, Kim Young Cheol, has been reinstated to his original rank.
The Chosun Workers’ Party publication Rodong Shinmun indirectly confirmed the news today, publishing a photo of Kim Jong Eun watching a concert, a photo in which Kim Young Cheol appears wearing a general’s uniform.
Kim had been photographed last November wearing the uniform of a lower-ranking officer when accompanying Kim Jong Eun as he inspected KPA Unit No. 534. Even in the South Korean Ministry of Unification’s own ‘2013 Directory of Major Institutions and Organizations,’ published this month, Kim is cited as a lieutenant general.
Kim Young Cheol is infamous primarily for his role in leading the Cheonan sinking and Yeonpyeong Island incidents of 2010.
Earlier this month it was confirmed that the director of the army’s General Political Department, Choi Ryong Hae, had also been reinstated to a former rank just two months after being demoted. In his case, he spent two months at general before returning to vice marshal.
