North Korea: Kim Jong Un reshuffles the military command, dismisses the defense minister

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un dismissed his defense minister, No Kwang Chol, in a sweeping reorganization of the military high command announced Sunday by the official KCNA news agency.

This reshuffle comes as Pyongyang, which possesses nuclear weapons, increasingly displays its ambitions in terms of military capabilities, as well as against a backdrop of rapprochement with Russia.

Mr. No was also excluded from the central leadership of the ruling Workers' Party during this meeting, which was chaired on Saturday by leader Kim Jong Un.

He is appointed first deputy director of the munitions department, according to state media.

Kim Son Gi, director of the army's general policy office, replaces him as minister.

Pak Jong Chon, advisor to the ministry, was given the position of vice-president of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party.

Om Ju Ho, political commissar of the air force, and Yu Kwang U, director of the army security bureau, become members of the party's Central Committee and its political bureau, respectively.

In addition, Kim Jong Un congratulated scientists, researchers and officials at a ceremony also on Saturday for advances in defense technologies, bestowing upon them the nation's honors, according to a separate report by KCNA.

They were recognized for having contributed to "solving critically important scientific and technical problems in the development of new combat weapon systems," the agency added, without specifying.

- Trump's overture -

In June, Kim Jong Un, who regularly appears at events intended to demonstrate the new capabilities of his army, oversaw the testing of new multiple rocket launchers and shells.

This reorganization comes just over a week after the conclusion of the annual joint exercises between South Korea and the United States, which Pyongyang considers a rehearsal for an invasion.

These maneuvers were considerably reduced by US President Donald Trump, in a nod to Kim Jong Un, whom he has already met three times during his first term.

North Korea and South Korea technically remain at war, as their 1950-1953 conflict ended with an armistice and not a peace treaty.

North Korea enshrined in its Constitution in 2023 the irreversible nature of its status as a nuclear power, a principle proclaimed a year earlier by Kim Jong Un, while the country is under heavy international sanctions for its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

Pyongyang views its nuclear arsenal, estimated at a few dozen warheads, as life insurance against any attempt at invasion or regime overthrow. This conviction has been reinforced by the military interventions carried out in recent months by the United States against Iran and Venezuela.

North Korea has also moved considerably closer to Russia in recent years. Moscow and Pyongyang concluded a defense agreement in 2024, and thousands of North Korean soldiers participated in fighting against Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk region in 2024-2025.

According to experts, Pyongyang's involvement in this conflict brings it economic and military advantages, as well as battlefield experience.