Foreign media question NK`s removal of top military leader

Major foreign media rushed to report Monday that North Korea`s decision to relieve Ri Yong Ho, vice marshal of the North Korean People`s Army, from all posts.

The New York Times raised speculation on Pyongyang`s explanation of Ri`s removal due to illness, saying high-ranking North Korean officials often face suspicious deaths after being relieved.

The Seoul correspondent of BBC News said few experts believe this explanation. CNN quoted Andrei Lankov, a Russian professor at Kookmin University of South Korea and an expert on North Korea, that Ri`s ouster is the first major purge under new North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The state-owned New China News Agency and China Central Television, or CCTV, delivered the news about Ri but did not elaborate on the reason.

baek@donga.com