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North Korea stages corruption purge of senior military official
The purge included accusations that the official ran a four-year promotion scheme, selling posts for bribes while embezzling state funds.
North Korea’s Kim Jong-un convened a rare joint meeting of the party, state and military focused on corruption among senior officials, in a move observers described as unusually public and aimed at signaling tighter control over the armed forces.
South China Morning Post reports that the meeting denounced former major general Pak Hui-chol, citing his role as deputy director for organisational affairs in the Korean People’s Army General Political Bureau, an institution tied to enforcing loyalty and keeping the military subordinate to the Workers’ Party.
Pak was accused of running a four-year scheme that sold promotions, extracted bribes and filled key military posts with loyalists, while also embezzling state funds.
According to Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies, the effort was effectively a warning to military and party leaders that they are under close surveillance and must not act as if they answer to anyone other than Kim.