North Korea reappoints Pak Pong Ju as prime minister

At the recently held Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea, the DPRK appointed Pak Pong Ju - an economic reformer - as the country's prime minister.

KCNA news agency reported on April 1 that Mr. Pak Pong Ju was reappointed as prime minister of the cabinet to replace Mr. Choe Yong Rim.

The return of Pak Pong Ju as prime minister is seen by analysts as a clear signal that leader Kim Jong Un is following through on recent statements about focusing on economic development.

Chairman Kim Jong Un raises his hand to vote during a plenary session of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea on March 31 - Photo: KCNA

Mr Pak was dismissed as prime minister in 2007 after proposing a US-style system of food production and distribution.

According to a United Nations report, up to two-thirds of the 24 million people in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam are facing chronic food shortages.

The appointment signals that Mr. Pak will play a key role in shaping North Korea's economic policy.

“Pak Pong Ju will be the face of economic reform in North Korea,” said Professor John Delury, a North Korea analyst at Yonsei University in Seoul.

“In the context of rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Kim Jong Un still wants to declare: Look, we are still focused on economic development, but we are doing it with our nuclear arsenal intact,” said Professor Delury.

Tensions are rising between the two Koreas as both the DPRK and the US-ROK alliance continue to make threatening statements. In the latest statements, Chairman Kim Jong Un announced that Pyongyang will expand and upgrade its nuclear arsenal along with moving towards a “self-reliant nuclear industry”, while the US announced that it will send its fifth-generation F-22 Raptor stealth bomber to South Korea to participate in military exercises from March 31.

According to Tuoi Tre - DT