MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th August, 2020) The appointment of a new North Korean premier will hardly lead to any significant changes to the nation's policies that are fully decided by its Korean Workers' Party and its leader, but may be a positive sign for Pyongyang's ties with Seoul given the new premier's past work experience in this area, James Edward Hoare, former senior UK diplomat in Pyongyang and research associate at London's school of Oriental and African Studies, told Sputnik.
Earlier today, the state-run KCNA news agency reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has appointed Kim Tok Hun a new premier of the North Korean cabinet instead of Kim Jae Ryong, who had been relieved from his post.
"I doubt whether this is a very significant change. The new premier has been a vice-premier since 2014 so is closely associated with current economic and political policies. They often change premiers with no discernible effect on policy. That said, one positive sign about the new one is that he is closely associated with past north-south contacts, which might be a signal to the south," Hoare, who served as charge d'affaires in Pyongyang after the UK and North Korea reestablished diplomatic ties, said.
"But the premier is not somebody who makes policy - he and the cabinet carry out what is decided by the party and the leader," he added.
Kim Tok Hun, born in 1961, has been serving as vice-premier since 2014. Prior to that, he was the delegate for the intra-Korean cooperation.
