Hyon Yong-chol named vice marshal of N. Korean military

North Korea announced Tuesday that it has promoted Army Gen. Hyon Yong-chol to the post of vice marshal.

"Hyon Yong-chol was awarded the title of vice marshal of the Korean People's Army," said the KCNA, the communist nation's state news agency.

"A decision on awarding the title was made by the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea and the National Defense Commission of the DPRK on Monday," it added in a brief dispatch, monitored in Seoul. DPRK is the acronym for the North's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

On Monday, the North announced that Vice Marshal Ri Yong-ho, its top military commander known as a guardian of the North's new leader, Kim Jong-un, was relieved of all of his posts due to "illness." Kim is reportedly in his late 20s.

The unexpected personnel move sparked media speculation in South Korea and foreign nations over the possibility of a power struggle or other political changes in the reclusive nation. (Yonhap)