Did Kim Jong-Un remove two officials from a photo?
A before-and-after photo of a gathering around North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has sparked fear and speculation that Kim has probably executed two senior officials of the administration, as they are nowhere to be found in a photo.
NK News reported that Admiral Kim Myong Sil and Hong Kil Ho, who operated Chongjin Shipyard, were expunged from the North Korean photographic record on orders of Kim.
These two were the main people who were blamed for Kim's inability to launch a naval destroyer last month.
In the new version of the same photo, there is now a conspicuously empty space where they stood.
The warship became unbalanced as it was lowered into the water at the port of Chongjin, causing it to slide into the water — crushing and wrecking parts of the hull and leaving the bow stuck on the shipway, Korean Central News Agency reported at the time.
Several officials were arrested at the shipyard directly after the shameful display, with experts believing Ho was one of at least four who faced repercussions.
Admiral Sil has been a top navy commander in the isolated nation since Kim took power in 2011 but he might not have escaped Kim's wrath. 'If Kim Myong Sik fell on his sword, he may have avoided a public execution and saved his family and close associates from imprisonment,' Michael Madden, founder of NK Leadership Watch, told The Sun.
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'On the other hand, if KJU is in a message-sending mood, then they may gather other top officials in the military and defense industry to watch,' Madden added.
In the backdrop of the recent tension in the Middle-East, North Korea has condemned Israel's air strikes on Iran and called Israel a "cancer-like" entity in threatening peace in West Asia.
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