And inside North Korea,... signs of possible shift within its power structure. <br />South Korea's intelligence agency says Hwang Pyong-so , the head of the military's General Political Bureau,... may no longer be the regime's second most powerful man.<br />Oh Jung-hee with more. <br /> The man who had been considered the second most powerful person in North Korea... appears to be so no longer.<br />South Korea's National Intelligence Service said Monday at a parliamentary briefing... that Hwang Pyong-so, who was the director of General Political Bureau within the North Korean army,... has been dismissed -- and is now receiving so-called ideological education.<br /> The post is now occupied by Kim Jong-gak -- former Vice Minister of the People's Armed Forces.<br />According to the NIS,... several more others in the bureau including its vice chief... have also been dismissed or purged.<br /><br /> This... after the North's ruling Workers' Party of Korea held a rare inspection of the Bureau... for three months starting last October,... citing what it called the Bureau's "impure attitude."<br />The inspection was the first of its kind in 20 years.<br /> Experts believe Hwang Pyong-so had been in a power struggle with Choe Ryong-hae,... the vice chairman of the ruling party's central committee.<br /><br /> "Having Hwang 're-educated' on the party's ideology and making him write self-reflections can't really be seen as purging him. There's a high possibility he could be put back in power. I'd say that Hwang was temporarily pushed away in his fight for power with Choe."<br /><br /> The regime's leader Kim Jong-un has not engaged in any military activities yet this year.<br />His six public appearances so far -- half the number at this point last year -- were focused on visits to private facilities.<br /> But the South Korean intelligence agency noted... that out of several underground tunnels at the North's Punggye-ri nuclear test site,... Tunnel 3 is always ready for a nuclear test.<br /> The agency is also keeping a close eye on the February 8th military parade... as it could reveal a wide variety of its missiles.<br /><br /> According to the NIS, the regime saw the largest trade deficit in its history in 2017... of almost 2 billion U.S. dollars due to UN sanctions.<br /> It stole tens of millions of dollar worth virtual currency by hacking South Korea's cryptocurrency exchanges... and launched cyber attacks against Seoul's security agencies, defense firms and anti-Pyongyang organizations.<br />Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News. <br />
