North Korea appoints No Kwang Chol as new defence chief in parliamentary shake-up

North Korea has appointed a new defence minister, state media said Wednesday, while making no mention of an expected step by Pyongyang to harden its position against Seoul.

No Kwang Chol was named the new defence minister at a key parliamentary meeting, succeeding Kang Sun Nam, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported without further detail.

No was part of Kim’s delegations during visits to Singapore in 2018 and Vietnam in 2019 for discussions with then-US president Donald Trump.

The nuclear-armed country had been expected to scrap a landmark inter-Korean agreement signed in 1991 at the meeting this week, as part of leader Kim Jong Un’s drive to officially define the South as an enemy state.

Pyongyang made no mention of such a move at the meeting, which ended Tuesday.

Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said North Korea may be waiting for the outcome of the US election next month before shifting its stance on Washington ally Seoul.

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Officials could “consider adjusting the extent of constitutional revisions to align with the direction of the new (US) administration,” he told AFP.

The Pyongyang meeting approved constitutional changes to areas such as light industry laws as well as minimum work and voting ages.

Kim earlier this year ordered the removal of unification-related clauses from the constitution and abolished agencies dedicated to improving ties with the South.

This week, he said Pyongyang had “no intention of attacking the Republic of Korea”, calling the South by its official name, which some analysts interpreted as a softening of his previously aggressive rhetoric.

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The announcement of No’s appointment comes a day after Seoul’s defence chief said North Korean soldiers were likely fighting in Ukraine alongside Russian troops, with some believed to have already been killed and more expected to be deployed.