Suggesting that some North Korean government hardliners remain opposed to denuclearization, and may even have had political overhaul ambitions in Kim's absence in one week, Yonhap and Reuters reported Monday morning that Kim Jong Un has removed the top three military officials from their posts ahead of the historic June 12 summit with Trump in Singapore.

While there has been no specific reason cited for the "replacement", it is possible that Kim was worried about the military - which holds an immense amount of power in North Korean society - staging a coup in his absence one week from today.

Rumors about the officials' removal were first reported by a Japanese newspaper early Monday local time, and Reuters later reported the rumors were indeed confirmed by a senior US official.