(North Korea Shuffles Military Leadership During Party Meeting)

(LEAD) N Korea-military

SEOUL, May 30 (Yonhap) — State-run media announced on Friday that North Korea has removed high-ranking military officers such as the heads of the armed forces’ artillery department and security bureau during a gathering of the ruling party’s central military commission.

Led by Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, North Korea convened the eighth expanded session of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) on Wednesday, as reported by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Following the incident where a new North Korean warship partially sank during its launching on May 21—a severe mishap that their leader observed and harshly criticized as an unforgivable "criminal act"—the meeting was convened.

According to the KCNA, the commission recently assigned six new commanders for corps-level units, along with appointing directors for both the Artillery Bureau and the Security Bureau, and also sent out several political commissars. No further specifics were provided.

North Korea stated that the discussions focused on strengthening the nation's armed forces' "unbreakable disciplinary framework" and emphasized the importance of maintaining strict oversight and direction over the military.

During the gathering, North Korea opted for "military actions to strongly uphold their strategic and tactical dominance," and they endorsed several fresh initiatives within the realms of defense technology and manufacturing industries, though specific information was not disclosed further.

It seems that the North's gathering aims to reinforce the military's standards following the recent incident with the warship during the launch.

Kim ordered the restoration of the warship to be "finished absolutely" prior to the full assembly of the WPK scheduled for June.

In connection with their probe into the naval incident, authorities in North Korea have apprehended several officials, among them being the deputy head of the party’s armaments sector.

sooyeon@yna.co.kr

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