It's been confirmed that North Korea appointed former Minister of the People's Armed Forces Kim Kyok-sik as the chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army.

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency referred to Kim as the new chief in a report Wednesday on Kim Jong-un's dispatch of a special envoy to China. The report said special envoy Choe Ryong-hae was seen off at the airport by Kim Kyok Sik, chief of the General Staff of the KPA.

The 75-year old general is known to be a hardliner within the North Korean military. He's suspected of masterminding the North's sinking of South Korea's Cheonan vessel and its attack on the South's Yeonpyeong Island in 2010.

Kim headed the First Army Corps that's in charge of the front lines in the Gangwon Province region before serving as defense chief for about eight months.

A North Korean news report revealed last week that he was replaced by Chang Chung-nam for the defense ministerial post, sparking speculations that Kim could have been purged.

Kim previously served as chief of the General Staff of the KPA from April 2007 to February 2009.