Kim Jong Un Overhauls Personal Security Team Amid Heightened Threat Concerns

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has replaced three senior officials responsible for his personal security, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said on Tuesday, a move analysts see as a sign of growing concern over possible assassination plots.

Seoul’s Unification Ministry, which monitors relations with Pyongyang, reported that three state agencies handling Kim’s protection have new bosses, with the changes first spotted during an October military parade.

The reshuffle at the Bodyguard Command, which oversees defences against threats such as drones and electronic attacks, may be linked to Kim’s decision to send North Korean troops to support Russia in Ukraine. “Change in the pattern of Kim’s security detail was detected from October 2024, when he deployed North Korean troops to Russia,” Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP. “He could have judged there could be an assassination attempt against him involving Ukrainians amid heightened international spotlight due to the deployment.”

South Korea’s spy agency has previously reported that Kim has expanded his security measures in response to perceived threats to his life, with efforts to acquire communications-jamming and drone-detection equipment.

In recent public appearances over the past year, Kim has often been accompanied by his daughter Ju Ae, whom analysts believe could be his eventual successor.

The shake-up follows heightened security anxieties in Pyongyang, particularly after the United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, an event seen by observers as a “decapitation strike” scenario that North Korea fears could happen to its own leadership.

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