North Korea’s top three military officials have been removed from their posts, a senior U.S. official said on Sunday, according to Reuters.
The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was commenting on a report by South Korea’s official Yonhap news agency saying that all three of the North’s top military officials were believed to have been replaced.
The move comes as President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un prepare to meet on June 12 in Singapore.
Trump announced on Friday that his meeting with the North Korean leader will take place as scheduled.
He had previously called off the June summit with Kim, citing Pyongyang’s “open hostility” towards the U.S. in recent statements.
The President later said, however, that the summit could go ahead as planned following a more appeasing statement from Pyongyang and productive talks with North Korean officials.
U.S. officials believe there was some dissension in the military about Kim’s approaches to South Korea and the United States.
The U.S. official did not identify the three military officials, but Yonhap identified them as defense chief Pak Yong Sik; Ri Myong Su, chief of the Korean People’s Army’s (KPA) general staff; and Kim Jong Gak, director of the KPA’s General Political Bureau.
Trump wants North Korea to “denuclearize,” meaning to get rid of its nuclear arsenal, in return for relief from economic sanctions. North Korea’s leadership is believed to regard nuclear weapons as crucial to its survival, noted Reuters.
The White House, State Department, CIA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to requests for official comment.