WASHINGTON (AP) — The dramatic ouster of the uncle of North Korea’s young ruler has sidelined the man reputed to be the second most powerful official in the secretive hierarchy. But Washington is not banking on a radical shift in Pyongyang’s nuclear policy.

Nor does the release of an 85-year old U.S. Korean War veteran over the weekend necessarily herald an improvement in chilly relations between Washington and Pyongyang that have gotten worse since young dictator Kim Jong Un took power.