Kim Jong-un attends state funeral of military marshal
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is seen putting soil on the coffin of late military marshal Ri Ul-Sol at his state funeral held Wednesday. /Yonhap
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended the funeral for late military marshal Ri Ul-Sol Wednesday, Yonhap reported, citing North Korean media.
But a high-ranking official, Choe Ryong-hae, secretary of the North Korean Workers’ Party, was absent. A South Korean intelligence official said Choe, the North Korean leader’s confidant, was sent to the country’s top school for re-education, Yonhap reported. Speculation was first raised of a political purge when Choe’s name was omitted from the North’s preparatory committee for the funeral. But the South Korean official said he did not regard it as a purge.
Other high-ranking officials, including Hwang Pyong-so, director of the general political department of the Korean People’s Army (KPA), attended the funeral along with President Kim.
Ri was an anti-Japanese guerilla who worked with North Korea’s late founder, Kim Il-sung. He had held several key posts in the KPA and earned the title of marshal in 1995. He died of lung cancer Saturday, aged 94.
North Korea pays full honors for the late North Korean military marshal Ri Ul-Sol, who worked alongside the North Korean founder, the late Kim Il-sung. /Yonhap