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Politics88 outlets ran this2 min read

North Korea dismisses defense minister No Kwang Chol

Kim Song Gi appointed to replace No Kwang Chol in military leadership reshuffle

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published Updated
File photo of North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol (left) with Russia's Defense Minister Andrei Belousov at Pyongyang International Airport before the visiting defense minister's departure from North Korea on Nov 30, 2024. (Photo: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

What this story says

  • North Korea's defense minister, No Kwang Chol, has been dismissed and demoted.
  • Kim Song Gi has been appointed as the new defense minister.
  • The reshuffle was decided during a meeting led by Kim Jong Un.
  • Pak Jong Chon was appointed vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission.

Who covered it

Left 24%(14)Centre 34%(20)Right 42%(25)

Percentages are shares of the 59 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 29 of the 88 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

42/100

Craft

57/100

Hype

20/100

88 sources · methodology

Missing from the left

Only 14 of the 59 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.

A reader who follows the left would not have seen this. We report the absence rather than explain it: outlets choose what to cover for many reasons, and we have no evidence about which one applies here.

North Korea has dismissed its defense minister, No Kwang Chol, and appointed Kim Song Gi in his place. The changes were decided during a meeting led by Kim Jong Un, according to state media reports. No Kwang Chol was demoted to first vice-director of the Munitions Industry Department. Pak Jong Chon was appointed vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission.

Coverage disagreements

Channel News Asia and The Korea Times report that No Kwang Chol was demoted to "first vice-director of the Munitions Industry Department" and "first vice-director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee" respectively. El Mundo states that the dismissed minister, No Kwang Chol, is 68 years old. EADaily and The Straits Times state that No Kwang Chol was demoted in the ruling party leadership. The Straits Times also reports that No Kwang Chol was demoted in the ruling party leadership.

What the coverage left out

None of the left-rated digests mention Kim Jong Un lauding scientists and researchers for advances in defence technology, a detail present in the Channel News Asia and The Korea Times full reports.

Tags:#NorthKorea#Military#Politics#KimJongUn

Coverage settled. We checked this 11 times and stopped on 4 Sept 2026, 06:30. The figures above are what it finished at.

How other outlets pictured it

Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

North Korea dismisses defense minister No Kwang Chol
The Korea TimesLeft

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

14 rated outlets

  • All twelve left‑rated outlets, The Korea Times, Helsingin Sanomat, rthk.hk, Spiegel, The Hindu, der Standard, Taipei Times, Politiken, watson, The Jakarta Post, 한겨레 and t‑online, reported that North Korea’s state news agency KCNA announced the dismissal of defence minister No Kwang‑chol and the appointment of General‑political‑bureau director Kim Song‑gi, a decision taken at a meeting led by Kim Jong‑un.
  • The Korea Times’ full article added that No was also removed from the Party’s central leadership and named first vice‑director of the Workers’ Party Munitions Industry Department, and that veteran Pak Jong‑chon was appointed vice‑chairman of the Central Military Commission. It quoted KCNA’s praise of scientists as “the greatest patriots and heroes”. Helsingin Sanomat’s full report similarly noted No’s removal, Kim Song‑gi’s rank as lieutenant‑general and the meeting’s leadership by Kim Jong‑un.
  • None of the digests from the left‑rated outlets mention any cost estimate, any response from South Korean officials, or any statement from No Kwang‑chol himself. They also omit analysis of the reshuffle’s impact on North Korea’s defence posture.

Centre

20 rated outlets

  • Centre-rated reports highlighted the dismissal and appointment of a new defense minister as part of a broader military leadership reshuffle. Channel News Asia and South China Morning Post reported that No Kwang Chol was dismissed as defence minister and demoted in the ruling party leadership. NK News stated that Kim Song Gi, director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army, was appointed the new defense minister. The Japan Times noted the dismissal was part of a "structural reorganization".

Right

25 rated outlets

  • Right-rated reports focused on the dismissal and replacement of the defense minister, often noting the demotion of the former minister. EADaily reported that Kim Jong Eun fired the head of the DOD. Mehr News Agency stated that North Korean state media announced the dismissal of the defense minister and his appointment to another defense post. Free Malaysia Today News mentioned the dismissal came amid a military leadership reshuffle and Kim Jong Un awarding honours for defence technology advances. El Mundo identified the dismissed minister as No. Kwang Chol, aged 68, and suggested he was formerly head of Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover North Korea dismisses defense minister No Kwang Chol?
Of the 59 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 24% are rated left, 34% are rated centre, 42% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 88. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is North Korea dismisses defense minister No Kwang Chol left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 59 rated outlets on this story, 24% are rated left, 34% are rated centre, 42% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of North Korea dismisses defense minister No Kwang Chol biased?
North Korea dismisses defense minister No Kwang Chol is one event reported by 88 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting North Korea dismisses defense minister No Kwang Chol?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered North Korea dismisses defense minister No Kwang Chol?
88 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
Who has been appointed as North Korea's new defense minister?
Kim Song Gi has been appointed as North Korea's new defense minister. He was previously the director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army.
What happened to the former defense minister, No Kwang Chol?
No Kwang Chol has been dismissed as North Korea's defense minister and demoted within the ruling party leadership to first vice-director of the Munitions Industry Department.
Who decided on the military leadership reshuffle?
The reshuffle of North Korea's military leadership was decided during a meeting led by Kim Jong Un.

Read it at the source

105 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

14
Show 6 more

Centre

20
Show 12 more

Right

25
Show 17 more

Not rated

46
Show 38 more

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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