Is North Korean's leader in a struggle for power?

North Korea's Army chief has stepped down 'due to illness'. 70-year-old Ri Yong Ho was relieved of all his positions. However, he was spotted at an event this weekend and wasn't showing any signs of bad health.

Is the move a sign of a power struggle? The internal politics of North Korea are deeply mysterious and so Ri Yong Ho's demise is being analysed by experts and foreign diplomats trying to see if this offers any clues about how the political structure is balanced.

The sense I am getting is that some think Ri Yong Ho must have done something to annoy Kim Jung Un. Back in April, after the failed satellite launch, there was intense speculation that North Korea was about to test a nuclear bomb as a way of responding to the perceived humiliation surrounding the rocket exploding just seconds after lift off. The consensus was that the military was pushing for a bomb test.

Some will now take the view that Kim Jung Un didn't want to test the bomb because the international condemnation and isolation would risk harming domestic economic reforms. Has Ri Yong Ho been given the boot because he was standing in the way of 'opening up'?

Back in April I visited the new department store in Pyongyang. The shop was packed with food and luxury goods like flat screen TVs. There was a supermarket with queues at the checkouts. All very expensive and yet hundreds of customers were making the most of the public holiday and trying to get in. Staff were having to limit numbers.

I noticed that Kim Jung Un had a jokey, friendly style with his Generals when they appeared on the balcony at the huge military parade to mark the 100th birth anniversary of his grandfather. He even made a speech. A 20 minute address which took us all by surprise because his father Kim Jung Il had only spoken about five seconds in public in 17 years.

It was a speech reiterating all the policies of the regime, Military First or Songun was to continue he said and he talked about the West no longer having a monoploy on advanced weapons, but it was a speech. Why make a speech in a totalitarian regime unless you want to send a message to the people and the world? The image was more of a politician than a reclusive dictator like this father.

China is now to allow thousands of North Koreans to live and work in China giving them the ability to send money home. There's more awareness of the outside world thanks to smuggled Chinese and South Korean videos and TV shows. A million or so North Koreans have mobile phones and so communication around the country has developed very fast. Kim is clearly reacting to the new media landscape. How long before we have a North Korean version of Twitter? Crazy thought but things appear to be moving fast.

We are getting more and more signs of North Korea opening up and at the same time seeing more of a change around the leadership style of Kim Jung Un. Last week he was at a concert, which featured Disney characters and a clip from one of the Rocky films. Both symbols of the US 'enemy'. Kim also has a new female companion, Wife? Girlfriend? One bookmaker was offering 1000/1 that she was actually a robot...! If she's real then she's now seen as the North Korean First Lady.

All this is adding up to make Kim Jung Un seem like the new leader with a fresh awareness. Bad news it seems for the old guard and Ri Yong Ho.