Power?  Absolutely!

And in an obvious determination to ensure that he will be surrounded by those completely loyal to him, North Korean's Kim Jong-un has refreshed replaced his late father's entourage in a sense, to take a back seat to his own choices of those he wished to be reliant upon.  In the process sending an unmistakable message that in him rests the ultimate power.

The power to discriminate, to make choices, and to exact an ultimate price for presumably a whisper of a suggestion that loyalty is not complete.  A discreet purge has taken place within the hierarchy of those in the military and the administration clustered around the eminence of North Korea's supreme tyrant.  The demi-god is dead, long live his successor.

An army minister was accused of drinking and carousing within the official mourning period after the death of Jim Jong-il, Jim Jong-un's father.  That accusation, irrespective of whether or not there was any merit in truth of it, sealed the man's fate.  The supreme leader, the light of his nation's shining sun was reputed to have ordered: "[leave] no trace of him behind, down to his hair".

The army minister, Kim Chol, was instructed to stand at attention in a place allotted for a mortar round.  Then the man was completely "obliterated", if South Korean media can be believed.  Fourteen senior officials have so far this year been purged, according to data obtained by Yoon Sang-hyun, a foreign affairs South Korean representative.

Among those selected for this very special treatment in recognition of their immeasurable usefulness to the previous regime of Kim Jong-il has been the head of the army, the governor of the North Korean central bank, and many others whose loyalty and expertise was deemed to be dispensable to the need of the new glorious tyrant.

"When Kim Jong-un became North Korean leader following the mourning period for his father in late December, high-ranking military officers started disappearing.  From information compiled over the last month, we have concluded that dozens of military officers were purged", concluded the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.

Accusations of 'misbehaviour' are most commonly used to indict these high-placed officials.  And they have no recourse to any laws to protect themselves.  If they are seen as political opponents to the new regime they are destined to be removed.  And most have been executed by firing squads.

 An estimated 31 senior officials were said to have been dismissed since 2010, when Kim was elevated by his father to second-in-command.

He is now redoubtably first-in-command.  His word alone is law.  And his will be done.