Mentor of N. Korea's Kim Jong Un dismissed

North Korea's army chief Ri Yong-Ho (left) attends the April 13, 2012 unveiling ceremony of statues commemorating former leaders Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il in Pyongyang, as the nation's new leader, Kim Jong-Un (right), looks on. / PEDRO UGARTE/AFP/Getty Images

(AP) SEOUL, South Korea - He was the guardian figure always at the side of North Korea's young new leader. As the top army official, his experience and position lent Kim Jong Un credibility with the troops. Now, Vice Marshal Ri Yong Ho is out, dismissed from several powerful posts because of "illness," state media said Monday in a brief surprise announcement just days after he last appeared in public.

Ri did not appear ill in recent appearances, feeding speculation abroad that Kim purged him in an effort to put his own mark on the nation he inherited when father Kim Jong Il died in December. At the same time, there was no sign of discord at Ri's last public appearance at a high-level event, barely a week ago.

Still, Ri's removal, whether for health reasons or political missteps, shakes the core of the authoritarian regime's power structure and may be a sign that Kim is tensing his grip on power, just as his father and grandfather, founding leader Kim Il Sung, did in their eras.

On Tuesday morning, the official Korean Central News Agency announced that the title of vice marshal had been bestowed on Hyon Yong Chol. No other details were provided about Hyon and his military background. It was not immediately clear if he would receive any of Ri's other titles and powers, including chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army.

The appointment was made by the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea and the National Defense Commission of North Korea, the agency said.

The decision to dismiss the 69-year-old Ri from top military and political posts was made at a Workers' Party meeting, convened uncharacteristically on Sunday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. It was not immediately clear who would take Ri's place, and the dispatch did not elaborate on his condition or future.

"Whether because of a physical malady or political sin, Ri Yong Ho is out, and Pyongyang is letting the world know to not expect to hear about him anymore," said John Delury, an assistant professor at Yonsei University's Graduate School of International Studies in South Korea.

It's too early to determine "whether Ri's stepping down is a manifestation of civil-military tensions, or Kim Jong Un's attempt to consolidate control" over the army, he said.

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North Korea's political and military reshuffles are mysterious, with officials sometimes dropping out of sight without explanation. Many top North Korean officials — such as Vice Marshal Jo Myong Rok, who died of heart disease in 2010 at age 82 —stay in their posts until they die.

Perhaps, because Ri arrived on the national scene during Kim Jong Il's final years, "he was always meant to be a transitional regent figure, and his function is played," Delury said.

The dismissal comes as Kim Jong Un makes waves in other ways. State TV showed him appearing at a music concert and visiting a kindergarten recently in the company of a mysterious woman who carried herself much like a first lady. Her identity has not been revealed but her public presence was a notable change from Kim Jong Il's era, when his companions were kept out of state media.

In North Korea, the army chief has been a powerful figure since Kim Jong Il elevated the army's role when he became leader after the 1994 death of Kim Il Sung.

Kim Jong Un has upheld his father's "songun" military-first policy, but in April he also promoted younger officials with economic backgrounds to key party positions in line with his push to build up the nation's economy.

Where Ri's departure leaves North Korea's million-man army, one of the world's largest, remained unanswered.

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[venusvegasvada]

"A Boy Named Ho"

My daddy left home when I was three
And he didn't leave much to ma and me
Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.
Now, I don't blame him cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing that he ever did
Was before he left, he went and named me "Ho."

Well, he must o' thought that is quite a joke
And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk,
It seems I had to fight my whole life through.
Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head,
I tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named "Ho."

Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean,
My fist got hard and my wits got keen,
I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame.
But I made a vow to the moon and stars
That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars
And kill that man who gave me that awful name.

Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
And I just hit town and my throat was dry,
I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew.
At an old saloon on a street of mud,
There at a table, dealing stud,
Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me "Ho."

Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
From a worn-out picture that my mother'd had,
And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye.
He was big and bent and gray and old,
And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
And I said: "My name is 'Ho!' How do you do!
Now your gonna die!!"

Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
And he went down, but to my surprise,
He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear.
But I busted a chair right across his teeth
And we crashed through the wall and into the street
Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.

I tell ya, I've fought tougher men
But I really can't remember when,
He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile.
I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss,
He went for his gun and I pulled mine first,
He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him smile.

And he said: "Son, this world is rough
And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya along.
So I give ya that name and I said goodbye
I knew you'd have to get tough or die
And it's the name that helped to make you strong."

He said: "Now you just fought one hell of a fight
And I know you hate me, and you got the right
To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you do.
But ya ought to thank me, before I die,
For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye
Cause I'm the son-of-a-xxxxx that named you "Ho.'"

I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
And I called him my pa, and he called me his son,
And I came away with a different point of view.
And I think about him, now and then,
Every time I try and every time I win,
And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him
Bill or George! Anything but Ho! I still hate that name!

[venusvegasvada]

I was going to say something but jeeze, with a name like Vice Marshall Ri Yong Ho, you just sort of feel sorry for the guy. It reminds me of the Johnny Cash song about a boy named Sue.