N. Korea releases photos of top military board in rare publicity move

(ATTN: MODIFIES headline, CORRECTS number of commission members in 2nd para, UPDATES
throughout with details)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, April 16 (Yonhap) -- North Korea released photos of all the members of its
newly elected top military board in its party newspaper in an unprecedented move
that analysts said may be aimed at promoting their status close to leader Kim
Jong-il.
Kim, now back in control after an alleged stroke last summer, refreshed the
lineup of the National Defense Commission in a parliamentary meeting on April 9,
increasing the number of its members to 13 from nine and bringing in new members
from outside the military.
Most notably, Kim, 67, promoted his brother-in-law, Jang Song-thaek, a powerful
department director of the Workers' Party, to the defense commission, in what
appeared to be a move to cement Jang's status as the No. 2 man orchestrating
overall state affairs.
By appointing Jang and bolstering the defense commission, analysts said, the
North Korean leader set up a comprehensive system that combines the party and the
military and can legitimately help run the country if Kim becomes unable to do
so.
The April 10th edition of the Rodong Sinmun, which was published a day after the
reshuffles and obtained by Yonhap News Agency on Thursday, ran a photo of Kim on
its first page and photos of the other commission members on the fourth page in a
break from its tradition of not publicizing commission members.
The photos of the commission members, mostly in their 70s and appearing grim and
expressionless, included those of U Tong-chuk, who has rarely appeared in public,
as a security official monitoring espionage, and Paek Se-bong. Some South Korean
analysts had suspected until now that the name Paek Se-bong was not a separate
individual, but rather a pseudonym used for Kim's second son, Jong-chol.
Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea studies professor at Dongguk University in Seoul, said
North Korea is promoting the commission members as public guards for the country.

"They may be intending to say, 'These are the ones who will protect our
government and our country. Trust in them, and nothing will happen to you, no
matter what happens with the U.S. or South Korea," Koh said.
Choi Jin-wook, an analyst with the Korea Institute for National Unification, a
state-run think tank, said Jang will likely play a central role in running the
empowered National Defense Commission and assisting Kim's governance.
"The National Defense Commission will be spearheading not only state affairs, but
also preparations for a power transfer," Choi said.
Analysts said Jang, who married Kim's only sister, Kim Kyong-hi, in 1972, may
play a caretaking role for Kim's successor, who will possibly be one of his three
sons. Some sources say Kim has named his youngest son, Jong-un, in his mid-20s,
as his heir, but Seoul intelligence officials say there is no hard evidence to
prove it.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)