Friday 26 / April / 2024
Pyongyang: North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un has replaced a senior general in the North Korean military, and has further asked for intensified military training, weapon manufacture, and war preparations, Al Jazeera reported citing the country’s state media KCNA on Thursday.
KCNA said on Thursday that Kim made the remarks during a Central Military Commission meeting when plans for measures to fend off North Korea's foes were addressed.
The Chief of the General Staff of North Korea, Gen. Pak Su Il has been "dismissed". About seven months had passed since he began in his position.
General Ri Yong Gil, who had previously been the nation's defence minister and supreme commander of its conventional forces, took over for Pak. Ri had previously held the position of army chief of staff, according to Al Jazeera.
When Ri was sacked in 2016, his dismissal and subsequent absence from official North Korean events led to South Korean rumours that he had been executed, however, a few months later, Ri made a comeback when he was appointed to another top position.
According to KCNA, "the issue of making full war preparations" including "securing more powerful strike means" to guarantee "perfect military readiness for a war" was on the agenda of Wednesday's meeting between Kim and the Central Military Commission.
This comes after pictures of Kim Jong visiting arms factories, examining artillery installations, and even shooting a gun surfaced recently.
These images purport to provide a rare look into the secretive state's weapons facilities, reported CNN.
The images, which were issued by the North Korean state news agency KCNA on Saturday, showed Kim viewing a production facility for a "large-calibre artillery complex" and providing "on-site guidance" to employees at a facility producing "strategic cruise missiles and unmanned attack aircraft."
Additionally, it said that Kim provided "important directions" for "capacity-building for the serial production of new ammunition."
Even though the gruelling conflict ended in stalemate and the peninsula was split, North Korea celebrated the armistice and Victory Day in July by holding a large military display that allegedly featured two versions of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).
The Hwasong-18 missiles, Pyongyang's newest solid-fueled ICBMs, were rolled into Kim Il Sung Square in the capital before the Hwasong-17, a liquid-fueled ICBM. Many analysts believe the Hwasong-18s have the range to hit the entire mainland United States.
The parade was deemed a "huge glory" for the country's armed forces and a "great celebration" for all of its citizens by North Korean Defence Minister Kang Sun Nam, as per CNN.
