SEOUL – Kim Kyok Sik has been named in a KCNA dispatch as returning to the position of Chief of Korean People’s Army (KPA) General Staff in the latest in a series of unprecedented North Korean military re-shuffles.

Kim was, until very recently, Minister of the People’s Armed Forces (MPAF), and had been KPA chief until 2009. Both positions are high, but KPA chiefs are considered more important.

During Kim Jong Il’s 17 year rule from 1994-2011, there were only four men to hold the MPAF position: O Jin U, Choe Kwang, Kim Il Chol and Kim Yong Chun.

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