North Korea replaces Premier Kim Tok-hun with Pak Tae-song... Choe Son-hui becomes Politburo member

North Korea replaced its Cabinet Premier in charge of the economic sector from Kim Deok-hoon to Pak Tae-sung and appointed military official Kim Jong-gwan as Deputy Premier.

Park Tae-sung, newly appointed Premier of North Korea's Cabinet and member of the Standing Committee / Photo by Yonhap News

Korean Central News Agency reported on the 29th that at the 11th plenary meeting of the 8th Workers' Party held from the 23rd to the 27th, personnel changes in the Cabinet Party and organization, including the replacement of the Premier, were made.

Pak Tae-sung is one of Kim Jong-un's closest aides. Last September, he attended the North Korea-Russia summit held at the Vostochny Cosmodrome with Chairman Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and he was also appointed to the Political Bureau Standing Committee.

Pak Tae-sung served as the responsible secretary of the South Pyongan Province Party Committee from 2014 to 2017 and has been the Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly since April 2019. Subsequently, at the 1st plenary meeting of the 8th Party Central Committee in January 2021, he was appointed as a member of the Party Central Committee Political Bureau and head of the Party Central Committee Propaganda and Agitation Department. He also served as the chairman of the National Emergency Space Science and Technology Committee established by North Korea for reconnaissance satellite launches.

Kim Deok-hoon, who became Premier at the relatively young age of 59 in August 2020, stepped down after 4 years and 4 months. He was appointed as a secretary of the Party Central Committee and head of the Party Economic Department.

North Korea also appointed Kim Jong-gwan, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Defense, as Deputy Premier. It is very unusual for a military official to be appointed as Deputy Premier of the Cabinet.

Kim Jong-gwan was also part of Chairman Kim's delegation during his visit to Russia last September. Analysts suggest that appointing him as Deputy Premier aims to maximize the use of military support to Russia and the returns received from it for economic development. It is also interpreted as an intention to facilitate the deployment of military personnel in promoting policies such as the 'Local Development 20×10' initiative.

North Korea appointed Kwon Sung-hwan as Minister of Resource Development and Kim Young-sik as Minister of Commerce. Additionally, Choe Son-hui, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Ri Yong-gil, Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army, were newly elected as members of the Party Central Committee Political Bureau. No Kwang-chol, Kim Jong-gwan, Ri Hi-yong, and Choe Dong-myong were also directly elected (appointed as members without going through candidate member status) as Political Bureau members. Along with Kim Deok-hoon, Choe Dong-myong and Ri Hi-yong became secretaries of the Party Central Committee, taking charge of the Science and Education Department and the Cadre Department, respectively. Kim Chul-sam was appointed to the position of responsible secretary of the North Pyongan Province Party, previously held by Ri Hi-yong.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.