N. Korea names head of int'l affairs department

SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Yonhap) -- North Korea appears to have named a new head of the
International Affairs Department of the North's ruling Workers' Party Central
Committee, a Seoul government official said Thursday.

The (North) Korean Central News Agency, North Korea's official media, said Kim
Yong-il, director of the International Affairs Department of the Workers Party
Central Committee, attended a New Year's reception for staff members of the
Chinese Embassy held Thursday at the Koryo Hotel in Pyongyang.
The position has reportedly been vacant since early 2007, when Kim Yang-gon, the
former head of the department, took the post of department director on
inter-Korean relations in the Workers' Party.
The new director seems to be serving in two posts simultaneously. "The director
of the International Affairs Department referred to in a report aired by the KCNA
and Kim Yong-il, vice foreign minister of North Korea, seem to be one and the
same person," said the government official, who asked not be identified.
The International Affairs Department handles rapport between North Korea and
China, while the Foreign Ministry is in charge of relations with foreign
countries.
ksnam@yna.co.kr
(END)

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