The leader of the North Korean regime, Kim Jong Un, wants his armed forces to "prepare for war." The comment was accompanied Thursday by a reshuffle of the military leadership. Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un ordered the dismissal of the Chief of the General Staff and assigned his replacement.
General Pak Su Il lost his position at the head of the North Korean armed forces to his second-in-command, Vice Marshal Ri Yong Gil. In North Korea, deputy marshal is the second highest military rank, after that of marshal, wonsu, held by the supreme leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
A veteran of the single party
Ri Yong Gil is a senior official in North Korea's single party. He was Minister of Social Security in 2021, as well as Minister of Defense shortly thereafter. Within the single party, he is the vice-chairman of the Military Commission.
It was not the only change that the state news agency, KCNA, reported on Thursday. Along with Pak Su Il, an undetailed number of senior positions in the armed forces underwent changes and dismissals. According to statements to CNN by Cheong Seong-Chang, a Korean analyst at the Sejong Institute, there are several reasons why the regime may have made these changes. The reasons are not necessarily "punitive."
Tension with the West
North Korea maintains a high level of military tension on the Korean peninsula. For this reason, its armed forces require constant upgrades. In recent months, the Kim Jong Un regime has repeatedly ordered the launching of ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan for deterrence purposes. Recently, the North Korean regime also distributed to the international media a series of photographs of the leader testing new light weapons. According to KCNA, Kim Jong Un asked factories to increase ammunition production.
The North Korean regime's warnings escalated when the United States sent a war submarine to the waters off the Korean peninsula for the first time since 1980 to participate in exercises with South Korea.
