IS THIS SERIOUS CHANGE? – AT 9:06 A.M. ET:  A major shakeup in the North Korean government is being reported, only eight days before the scheduled summit between President Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un.  Is this serious, or cosmetic?  We have no indications yet.  From Reuters: 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea’s top three military officials have been removed from their posts, a senior U.S. official said on Sunday, as U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un prepare to meet on June 12 in Singapore.

The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was commenting on a report by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency that all three of the North’s top military officials were believed to have been replaced.

Trump on Friday revived the summit after canceling it a week earlier. The United States is seeking a negotiated end to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

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. 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.

COMMENT:  Other outlets say that the fired officers are being replaced by much younger men, although we have no verification of that yet.  It's hard to believe these firings have nothing to do with the upcoming summit.  But what the connection is, and what the policy implications will be, are not clear.

June 4,  2018