North Korea Fires Its Defence Minister in Military Shake-Up

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un has fired the country's defence minister and replaced him with a new one. The change was announced Sunday by North Korea's state news agency, KCNA. Kim made the decision during a meeting on Saturday as part of a larger shake-up of the country's military leadership. North Korea is a secretive country in East Asia, and news about its government usually comes only from its official state media.

The fired official, No Kwang Chol, lost his job as defence minister and was also moved to a lower position in the ruling party. His new title puts him in charge of a section of the government that deals with weapons manufacturing. A man named Kim Song Gi, who previously led the political branch of North Korea's army, was named as the new defence minister. Several other officials also received promotions during the same reshuffle.

Another senior official named Pak Jong Chon was given two new roles. He became vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission and was added to the ruling party's top decision-making body. These changes show that Kim Jong Un is reorganising the people closest to him in the military. This kind of leadership shuffle is not unusual for North Korea, where Kim holds total control over the government.

On the same day as the reshuffle, Kim held a ceremony to honor scientists and researchers. He praised them for making important advances in weapons technology. KCNA said the honorees helped solve major scientific problems related to building new types of weapons. The report did not say exactly what kind of weapons were being developed. Just two months earlier, in late June, Kim had watched tests of a new long-range rocket launcher and artillery system.

The shake-up happened shortly after the United States and South Korea finished their yearly joint military drills. North Korea strongly dislikes these drills and regularly calls them a practice run for an invasion. This year, the drills were watched even more closely because U.S. President Donald Trump ordered them to be cut short. Trump has called the drills provocative, meaning they stir up tension, and he also criticised South Korea for not backing his policies toward Iran.

Trump has spoken positively about Kim Jong Un in the past. He met with Kim twice during his first term as president and has suggested he wants to meet again, possibly this year. However, North Korea has not shown much interest in talking. It has continued to test missiles and has publicly criticised the military drills, even though they were shortened. North Korea has also spoken out against U.S. weapons sales to South Korea and against American programmes that document human rights problems inside North Korea.