Seoul – North Korea’s defense minister has been dismissed as part of a reshuffle of the country’s military leadership, state media reported Sunday. The “structural reorganization plans” were decided during a meeting on Saturday led by leader Kim Jong Un, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. No Kwang Chol was not only dismissed as defense minister but also demoted in the ruling party leadership to “first vice director of the Munitions Industry Department,” KCNA said.
Kim Song Gi, director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People’s Army, was named as the new defense minister. Another senior official, defense adviser Pak Jong Chon, was given the position of vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and named to the ruling party’s Political Bureau. Several other promotions were also announced.
In a separate report, KCNA said Kim had lauded scientists, researchers and officials at a ceremony on Saturday for their advances in defense technology, giving them top national honors. The honorees greatly contributed to “resolving scientific and technological problems of epochal significance in developing new combat weapon systems,” KCNA said, without specifying the type of systems. In late June, Kim oversaw tests of a new extended-range multiple rocket launcher and artillery.
The leadership shuffle comes shortly after joint annual drills between South Korea and the United States wrapped up. The drills, which are regularly denounced by Pyongyang as preparations for an invasion, were closely watched this year after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered them to be shortened.
Trump criticized the drills as provocative toward the North and bashed Seoul for not supporting his war against Iran. The U.S. president also praised North Korean leader Kim, whom he met twice during his first term in office, as he eyes a new meeting, potentially this year. Despite Trump’s overtures, North Korea has shown little sign of reciprocating, firing missiles and condemning the scaled-down drills.
Pyongyang has also slammed Washington’s approval of arms sales to South Korea and plans to fund programs documenting human rights abuses in the North.
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