BEIJING (Kyodo) -- North Korea's vice defense minister, Kim Jong Gwan, who has supervised the country's construction projects under leader Kim Jong Un, has been promoted to the top post, a state media report showed Wednesday.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency called Army Gen. Kim Jong Gwan the "minister of the People's Armed Forces" in an article reporting a meeting held on Tuesday in Pyongyang about forest restoration and environment protection.

Kim, who has succeeded No Kwang Chol, has overseen large-scale construction projects such as building a beach resort in the eastern coastal city of Wonsan and hot spring facilities in the central alpine town of Yangdok.

The replacement is believed to have been decided at a meeting of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea, which official media in December reported took place with military officials present.

Separately, at the plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling party held late last year, Kim was tapped as an alternate member of the committee's Political Bureau.

Minister of the People's Armed Forces Kim Jong Gwan © (Photo courtesy of Korea Media/ Kyodo)

Also earlier this month, North Korea appointed a former military officer as foreign minister, diplomatic sources said, after the country voiced eagerness to bolster its defense capabilities amid stalled nuclear talks with the United States.

According to the sources, North Korea has notified nations with which it has diplomatic relations that Ri Son Gwon, former head of the Committee for Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, a state organization, is succeeding Ri Yong Ho.