Kim fired General Pak Su Il, chief of the General Staff, during a meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party central military commission.
He replaced Pak with Vice Marshal Ri Yong Gil, who currently serves as the North’s defense minister.
Report said Kim analyzed the hostile situation on the Korean Peninsula and called for further stepping up the war preparations of the Korean People’s Army in an offensive way.
The meeting comes ahead of a major U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise, Ulchi Freedom Shield, scheduled for later this month.
Pyongyang has repeatedly condemned the allies’ joint drills as preparation for an invasion, while framing its own nuclear program as an exercise in deterrence and self-defense.
