North Korea's Biggest Military Corruption Scandal in a Decade Exposed

North Korea has been rocked by its biggest military corruption scandal in a decade, prompting leader Kim Jong Un to carry out a sweeping reshuffle of the country's top military brass. According to the 38 North website, the changes were announced at an August meeting of the Central Military Commission — only the second such meeting since the 9th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea in February.

In total, five officials were replaced in the commission's and army's leadership. Minister of National Defense No Kwang Chol lost his post — he now holds only the position of deputy director of the party's Munitions Industry Department and has been dropped from the Workers' Party Politburo. He was replaced by Kim Song Gi, director of the army's General Political Bureau, who kept his previous post as well. Pak Jong Chon was appointed the new vice-chairman of the Military Commission while remaining an adviser to the defense minister. As a result, the Ministry of National Defense now finds itself under tighter control of the army's political bureau. The reshuffle also touched the Military Security Command.

The scheme behind the embezzlement

The reshuffle is linked to North Korea's biggest corruption scandal in a decade, allegedly orchestrated by Pak Hui Chol, former director of the Organization Department of the army's General Political Bureau. Having taken up the post in 2022, he was responsible for party work within the military, political leadership, and personnel matters.

Pak abused his authority, diverting state funds for personal gain. According to available information, he appointed relatives and accomplices to senior positions in the army and defense ministry, and even sold such posts for money. The network he built allowed him to collect bribes from enterprises — both in cash and in kind.

The corruption scheme first came to light at a plenary session of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee in June. Later, on July 10, the matter was discussed at a major meeting of the country's top leadership, attended by senior party and military officials. According to The Korea Times, at that meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un publicly condemned Pak, accusing him of "bribery, abuse of power and accumulation of illegally acquired wealth," and referred to the existence of a faction within the system. He branded the actions of those involved as "counter-revolutionary, anti-socialist and anti-people," and warned against any repeat of such conduct. What punishment Pak himself received has not been officially disclosed.

Kim Jong Un tightens his personal grip

The first personnel changes followed almost immediately after the July meeting: Jo Yong Won returned to head the Central Committee's key Organization and Guidance Department, responsible for implementing party policy nationwide — just three months after taking charge of the Supreme People's Assembly. This points to the scale of the problems caused by the corrupt network.

The appointment of new heads to several military structures, while allowing them to retain their previous posts, signals a redistribution of power in favor of the party's central apparatus and tighter control over the army's political bureau — influence over the armed forces and the defense ministry is once again being concentrated in the hands of the key organization department.

The significance of these events is underscored by the fact that Kim Jong Un personally read out the announcement awarding state honors from the Supreme People's Assembly to three specialists who made the greatest contribution to solving scientific and technical challenges in the development of new weapons. In doing so, he signaled that he is taking the reins himself and consolidating his power — for although Pak's corruption scheme did not directly threaten his position, it undermined the image of a leader in full control of the situation in the country.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz