North Korea’s Kim dismisses top general, calls for war preparations

Images in state media showed Kim discussing “major military actions” against South Korea at a meeting of the Central Military Commission while smoking a cigarette in front of a room full of uniformed top generals and pointing at maps.

North Korea’s Kim dismisses top general: The Korean Central News Agency reported that “the issue of making full war preparations” and guaranteeing “perfect military readiness for a war” were on the agenda of the summit, which took place just days after Kim inspected important arms factories.

The discussion takes place as Seoul and Washington gear up for significant joint exercises later this month, which the North considers as invasion rehearsals and has repeatedly warned may spark “overwhelming” retaliation.

According to KCNA, Vice Marshal Ri Yong Gil was appointed to succeed Chief of General Staff Pak Su Il after Kim removed Pak Su Il during the meeting. No further information was provided.

“According to KCNA, Kim removed Pak Su Il from the position of Chief of General Staff during the meeting and appointed Vice Marshal Ri Yong Gil to replace him. No further information was provided.”

The author asserted that Kim Jong Un displays a tendency to swiftly replace officials when he perceives them as lacking the capacity to effectively manage and fulfill their responsibilities.

Given that Pak had previously held the position for a considerable amount of time, Ri may have been the “most suitable person” to succeed him, Cheong continued.

Manufacturing of weapons in “mass”

According to the report, Kim demanded that “all munitions industrial establishments push ahead with the mass-production of various weapons and equipment.”

“Calling for active participation in real war drills,” he noted, “he emphasized the need to proficiently operate the recently received state-of-the-art weaponry and equipment.”

Kim came to a “important conclusion on further stepping up the war preparations of the KPA in an offensive way,” according to KCNA, referring to the North’s military.

The most recent KCNA story seemed to be North Korea’s “own response to the upcoming joint military training between Seoul and Washington,” a representative from Seoul’s unification ministry told reporters.

He said: “I think he wanted to send a message to the South with a threatening action.” He was referring to images published by the North’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper showing Kim pointing to what seemed to be a map of Seoul.

The summit also covered plans for a big parade to commemorate North Korea’s 75th anniversary of its creation on September 9.

Analysts dubbed Pyongyang’s celebration of the 70th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War “the largest, most overt North Korean display of nuclear-capable systems” last month.

Along with the parade, North Korea staged a sizable defence expo, where Kim showed the visiting Russian defence minister some of the nation’s most cutting-edge weapons, such as ballistic missiles and spy drones.