Kim Jong Un erases two officials from months-old state photos, prompting fears they were executed over botched warship launch: report

North Korea’s despotic ruler Kim Jong Un appeared to have a top navy commander and another senior official erased from months-old official state photos following the nation’s high-profile failed ship launch — fueling speculation that they were executed, according to a report.Admr.Kim Myong Sil and Hong Kil Ho, who operate Chongjin Shipyard, were expunged from the North Korean photographic record on orders of Kim — who blames them for the hermit kingdom’s inability to launch a naval destroyer last month, NK News reported.The two North Korean honchos were originally pictured on the left side of the photo released by North Korean state media, near Kim.In the edited photos released by North Korean state media, there is now a conspicuously empty space where Myong Sil and Kil Ho once stood.The move was reminiscent of the Soviet Union’s brutal dictator Joseph Stalin, who made common practice of erasing political adversaries from notable pics, including the infamously overt erasure of Nikolai Yezhov.Kil Ho was blamed by the portly dictator and state media for the catastrophic failure to launch a 5,000-ton naval destroyer into the Sea of Japan on May 21.The warship became unbalanced as it was lowered into the water at the port of Chongjin, causing it to slide into the water — crushing and wrecking parts of the hull and leaving the bow stuck on the shipway, Korean Central News Agency reported at the time.Several officials were arrested at the shipyard directly after the shameful display, with experts believing Ho was one of at least four who faced repercussions, The Sun reported, citing experts.Admr.

Sil has been a top navy commander in the isolated nation since Kim took power in 2011 —- but that is not likely to have saved him from the tyrant’s bloodlust.“If Kim Myong Sik fell on his sword, he may have avoided a public execution and saved his family and close associates from imprisonment,” Michael Madden, founder of NK Leadership Watch, told The Sun.�...