It doesn't pay to be number two in North Korea. In December the young dictator Kim Jong Un executed his uncle, Jang Song Taek, supposedly Kim's top adviser. Now Vice Marshal Choe Ryong Hae, who climbed atop Jang's corpse, has been relieved of his important positions.
Choe's fall is particularly important because, though he was an aide to Kim's father, Kim Jong Il, he rose rapidly under the younger Kim. Dumping Choe reshapes the political environment of Kim's making.
While Kim's dominance in Pyongyang does not guarantee the regime's survival, it dampens hope for any change outside of Kim. Today's Korean Winter isn't likely to give way to a Korean Spring. Moreover, nothing suggests that the North's communist monarchy is about to give way. Indeed, the elite, at least, are doing better than in years past.