April 08, 2011 12:14
North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly has appointed four-star general Ri Myong-su to the vacant post of minister of people's security. Ri is a confidant of North Korean heir apparent Kim Jong-un, whom he accompanied on an inspection trip to a military base in January 2010, and appeared in the inter-Korean summit in 2007.
The North also sacked Jon Byong-ho, a member of the National Defense Commission who had overseen the arms industry since the 1980s, and replaced him with Workers Party secretary Pak To-chun. Jon (85) led the development of nuclear weapons and missiles and has been blacklisted by the U.S. A source said Jon seems to have been fired due to his age.
Leader Kim Jong-il and Jong-un did not attend the rubber-stamp assembly, and there was no mention of Kim Jong-un, whose possible promotion had been widely expected.
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