N. Korea eyes replacing ambassador to China to boost ties+

BEIJING, Oct. 20 Kyodo -
North Korea is considering replacing its ambassador to China, Choe Pyong Gwan,
a career diplomat who assumed the post in the spring, sources familiar with
bilateral relations said Wednesday.
Pyongyang eyes a senior Workers' Party of Korea official as a replacement for
Choe, with Ji Jae Ryong, a vice director of the party's International
Department, a frontrunner, the sources said.
The replacement could take place by the end of the year, they said. Choe's
predecessor, Choe Jin Su, formerly a vice director of the party's International
Department, was in Beijing for about 10 years.
By appointing a senior party official ambassador to Beijing, North Korea
appears poised to strengthen ties with China, a main benefactor for Pyongyang,
especially when the country began a process to transfer power from leader Kim
Jong Il to his third son and heir-apparent Jong Un.
Ji is said to have close ties with Jang Song Thaek, a vice chairman of the
National Defense Commission and director of the party's Administration
Department.
Jang and his wife Kim Kyong Hui, Kim Jong Il's sister and a party department
director, are seen as guardians of Kim Jong Un.
If Ji were to become ambassador to Beijing, some North Korean watchers
speculate an official visit to China by Kim Jong Un would emerge as an
important diplomatic agenda item between the two countries.
Kim Jong Un, 27, was anointed successor to his 68-year-old father as he became
a military general and a vice chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea Central
Military Commission in late September in a move to bring the Kim dynasty to a
third generation.
==Kyodo
2010-10-20 22:34:59