N. Korea military official dumped from ruling party over graft: state media

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un denounced as a "political crime" the alleged corruption of a senior military official dumped from the ruling party for taking bribes, state media reported early Saturday.

Kim made the comments at a joint meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea and the army in Pyongyang on Friday, the state news agency KCNA said.

The meeting was informed of corruption by Pak Hui Chol, former vice-director in charge of organizational affairs of the General Political Bureau of the People's Army and his followers, the report said.

Pak had received "a large amount of bribes" and led a "dissipated life," according to KCNA, adding that the ruling party dismissed him from its central leadership body and referred him to law enforcement.

"This is a political crime against the Party's line of building discipline and a deliberate act of embezzlement and plunder against the interests of the state and the people," Kim was quoted as saying in a speech.

High-profile condemnation of senior officials, particularly by the top leader, is rare in North Korea's authoritarian and opaque system of government.

AFP

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