North Korea has named No Kwang Chol as its new defense minister, state media reported on Wednesday, without elaborating on an expected move to toughen its stance against South Korea.
No Kwang Chol replaces Kang Sun Nam, following his appointment at a key parliamentary meeting. He has previously been part of leader Kim Jong Un's delegations during visits to Singapore in 2018 and Vietnam in 2019 for discussions with former US President Donald Trump.
Many anticipated that North Korea would scrap a historic inter-Korean agreement from 1991 during this week's meeting as part of Kim Jong Un's push to officially label South Korea as an enemy state. However, no such announcement was made at the meeting, which concluded on Tuesday.
Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, suggested that North Korea might be waiting for the outcome of the upcoming US election before changing its stance toward South Korea, a key ally of Washington. He added that officials could consider adjusting the scope of constitutional reforms based on the policies of the new US administration.
During the meeting, North Korea approved constitutional changes related to light industry laws, as well as the minimum work and voting ages. Earlier this year, Kim ordered the removal of clauses related to unification from the constitution and disbanded agencies tasked with improving relations with South Korea.
In a notable shift in tone, Kim said this week that Pyongyang has "no intention of attacking the Republic of Korea," referring to South Korea by its official name. Some analysts saw this as a softening of his previous aggressive rhetoric.
No Kwang Chol's appointment also comes a day after South Korea's defense minister stated that North Korean soldiers were likely fighting in Ukraine alongside Russian forces, with reports suggesting that some had already been killed and more could be deployed.
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