The chairman of South Korean parliament’s intelligence committee claimed Thursday that North

The chairman of South Korean parliament’s intelligence committee claimed Thursday that North Korea’s new leader Kim Jong-un may not be fully in charge of the country’s powerful military.

The assessment by chairman Kwon Young-se, a lawmaker of the ruling Grand National Party, came a day after a South Korean source said Kim issued his first military order just before the announcement of his father’s death this week.

Kim, a four-star general and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party, ordered all military units to halt field exercises and training and return to their bases, the source said.

The source said the order showed Kim’s complete control over the North’s 1.1 million-strong military, which served as a key backbone of his father Kim Jong-il’s rule.

Kwon, who chairs the parliamentary intelligence committee, said it was natural for Kim Jong-un to issue that order after his father’s death because he was designated as heir-apparent, according to PBC, a local radio station.

Kwon said on the radio program that it is too much to interpret Kim’s order as indicating his full control over the armed forces.

Separately, opposition lawmaker Song Young-sun claimed in KBS radio program that Kim’s father is believed to have died at 8 p.m. on Dec. 16, instead of 8:30 a.m. on Saturday claimed by the North’s official media.

She cited unidentified Chinese information as her source. Song claimed the North excessively stressed that Kim died aboard his special train to highlight his achievement.

Kim “made endless journeys for field category_idance to make people happy despite snow or rain, sultry summer and intense cold of midwinter,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday. “The people’s happiness was Kim Jong-il’s preoccupation.”

Song added it would be unusual for Kim to make an inspection trip in the morning as he is known as a night owl.

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