Joongang Ilbo: Several top N. Korean officials haven’t been seen since mid-August (updated)

Some new faces might be showing up on the back of milk cartons in Pyongyang — or would be, if Pyongyang had milk cartons (hey, at least they have milk).

Among those missing since mid-August are Ma Won-Chun, a prominent architect and Director of the National Defense Commission’s Design Department; General Ri Pyong-Chol, the Commanding Officer of North Korean People’s Air Force; Ri Yong-gil, Chief of the General Staff of the North Korean People’s Army; and Sim Chol-Ho, the Telecommunications Minister.

According to a person The Joongang Ilbo describes as “[a] well-informed source,” “an extensive purge took place in the North’s cabinet including the minister of post and telecommunication,” and “six minister-level officials were executed.”

Well … maybe. I’m highly distrustful of reports from inside the Pyongyang elite, and these non-sighting stories have a way of ending with sightings. Having said that, I’ve found that The Joongang Ilbo has historically done better reporting than most other South Korean newspapers. It bears watching.

Hat tip to a reader.

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Update: Well, that was fast. Ma Won-Chun is back.

Many, many thanks to a reader for this hat tip.

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Update: Ri Young Gil has also un-vanished, and Ri Pyong Chol was mentioned as recently as late September. Of course, the fact that KCNA says something doesn’t make it true, but my best guess is that the Joongang Ilbo‘s report just wasn’t very well sourced. It’s probably just the sort of baseless rumor that spreads in societies where authentic news is hard to come by, although I don’t rule out the possibility that Pyongyang plants these stories in the South Korean press just to confuse us, and to induce us to disbelieve everything we read about it.