Pyongyang rumors raise questions

MOSCOW, July 23 (UPI) -- A Russian military expert who spent time in North Korea said there was little to suggest a major political upheaval was imminent in Pyongyang.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was given the rank of marshal in the country's military following a recent regime shake-up. Kim's top army chief, Ri Yong Ho, was dismissed for what the government said was an "illness."

South Korean newspaper The Chosun Ilbo reported last week that dozens of soldiers were killed during conflict that erupted after forces turned up to remove the army chief from his office.

Jim Hoare, a former British diplomat to North Korea, told Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti the newspaper had a reputation for "running wild stories."

Analysts have tried to get a sense of Kim's leadership style since he took office in December following the death of his father, Kim Jong Il.

Alexander Zhebin, a North Korean scholar at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said the report of skirmishes in Pyongyang may have been the work of analysts in Seoul.

"There will be no coup. Everyone there is in the same boat and they understand that they will all share the same fate in the event of any internal disorder," he told the Russia news agency.