Kim Jong Un replaces his defence minister as Seoul names a former combined-forces deputy
North Korea's state agency KCNA said Kim Jong Un dismissed defence minister No Kwang Chol and named army political chief Kim Song Gi to the post at a Saturday meeting, a reshuffle state media linked to new weapons work. On the same day South Korea's president announced a cabinet change that puts former South Korea-US Combined Forces Command deputy Kang Shin-chul in charge of defence, as Lee Jae-myung's government seeks to revive foreign-policy momentum.
Geopolitics··Midday
Pyongyang dismisses its defence minister
North Korea's state agency KCNA said No Kwang Chol had been dismissed as defence minister and demoted in the party leadership to first vice-director of the Munitions Industry Department, and that Kim Song Gi, who ran the Korean People's Army's General Political Bureau, was named to the post. The agency said the structural reorganisation plans were decided at a meeting led by Kim Jong Un on Saturday. KCNA also said defence adviser Pak Jong Chon was made vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission and added to the ruling party's Political Bureau. In a separate report the agency said Kim had decorated scientists and officials for advances in what it called new combat weapon systems, without naming the systems, and that the weapons research centre had developed exclusive technologies. The account rests on state media and has no independent confirmation.[1]
Seoul reshuffles security and economic posts
President Lee Jae-myung's office announced a cabinet reshuffle on Sunday that names Kang Shin-chul, formerly deputy commander of the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command, as defence minister. Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik read the changes in a televised address: First Vice Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il becomes deputy prime minister and minister of economy and finance, and ruling Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Seung-won takes the justice ministry. The reshuffle comes as the administration enters its second year and looks to revive momentum in its international policy, with analysts questioning how long its expansionary fiscal stance can hold amid a rout in the local bond market. The government is due to present its 2027 budget next week. Cabinet nominees in South Korea face strict legislative scrutiny before appointment, but the constitution leaves the president the authority to appoint ministers even if parliament votes them down.[2]
The moves bracket a shortened US-South Korean drill season
The North Korean reshuffle follows the end of the annual South Korean-US drills that Donald Trump ordered cut short, and comes before Freedom Edge, the exercise South Korea, the United States and Japan are due to hold from 7 to 11 September in international waters east and south of Jeju Island. Seoul's choice of a former Combined Forces Command deputy for defence places a figure with deep alliance experience at the top of the ministry on the same weekend Pyongyang rotated its defence leadership toward the army's political chief. Neither capital framed the announcements as a direct response to the other.[1], [2]
