North Korea's Kim Jong-il names new defence minister

[Coventina]

Source: Reuters

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has named a new defence chief, state media said on Wednesday, replacing a close confidant with another to set him up as one of the unquestioned leader's more powerful aides.

Vice Marshal Kim Yong-chun was appointed new minister of the People's Armed Forces, the North's official KCNA news agency said, replacing Kim Il-chol who had been in the post since 2000.

An expert at the South's Korea Institute for Defence Analyses said the move signalled the secretive North may be "preparing for the post Kim Jong-il era," and the new defence chief is considered part of Kim's closest circle of confidants.

But Baek Seung-joo said: "The post of the defence minister is not that high, when you consider the hierarchy in the North, where Kim Jong-il is the top military official," adding it was too early to conclude what the move meant.



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