And then again, some rumors are true

In October, I posted about rumors that several senior North Korean officials had lost their jobs, including Ma Won-Chun, who showed up shortly thereafter. But another subject of the rumors, Gen. Ri Pyong-Chol, the Commanding Officer of North Korean People’s Air Force, has lost his job.

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Update: A reader wonders whether Ri has necessarily lost his job, or might have been promoted. Technically, I suppose it’s possible that both of those things could be true. The story of Choe Ryong-Hae, who also lost one of his job titles, shortly before being sent to South Korea in a position of obvious rank and influence, counsels us not to assume too much about where Ri landed.