Pyongyang: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has demoted the director of the military's general political bureau as part of a significant reshuffle of senior military officials, following a recent warship accident. The decision was made during an enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), which Kim presided over, as reported by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

According to Yonhap News Agency, the commission has newly appointed six commanding officers for corps-level units, alongside new directors for the Artillery Bureau and the Security Bureau, as well as several new political commissars. Jong Kyong-thaek, formerly the general of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army (KPA), has been demoted to colonel general, confirmed by Seoul's unification ministry through photos disseminated by North Korea's state media.

The photos, taken during a military artillery units' firing contest, showed Jong with insignia indicating his reduced rank, although state media continued to reference him with his previous title. The general political bureau director is responsible for ideological education and surveillance within the armed forces.

The commission's meeting, the first of its kind since August 2023, was triggered by the partial capsizing of a new North Korean warship during its launch on May 21, an incident that Kim criticized as an unacceptable "criminal act." The meeting focused on reinforcing "steel-like discipline" within the armed forces and enhancing "tight control and guidance" over the military.

North Korea is also implementing "military measures to firmly maintain the strategic and tactical superiority" of its forces, approving various projects in defense science and industry, though specific details remain undisclosed. The meeting appears to aim at tightening military discipline following the recent warship mishap in Chongjin.

Kim has mandated that the warship's restoration be "completed unconditionally" before the upcoming plenary meeting of the WPK in June. In connection with the warship accident investigation, several officials, including the vice director of the party's munitions industry department, have been detained.