Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) – North Korea has reshuffled its top leadership, with Choe Yong-rim replacing Kim Yong-il as prime minister. The decision was announced at a second session of parliament. State media said that the “Dear Leader” promoted his brother-in-law Chang Song-thaek to the post of deputy chairman of the powerful National Defence Commission (NDC).
North Korea’s parliament, known as the Supreme People's Assembly, usually meets just for one day once a year to ratify the decisions taken by the Communist regime’s leadership. This year, it exceptionally convened for a second session. Kim Jong-il, who skipped the preceding session held on 9 April, was present this time.
The special session of parliament, announced on 18 May, was called to discuss "organisational matters".
Choe Yong-rim was reportedly proposed as premier by the political bureau of the party's Central Committee.
North Korea experts said that the replacement of the premier, whose function is crucial in the country’s economic system, was linked to last year's failed currency revaluation. One official has already been sentenced to death over that failure.
Outgoing Prime Minister Kim Yong Il, who is not related to the North Korean leader, backed the ill-thought changes, which led to protests and dissatisfaction in the population, already suffering from widespread hunger.
Chang Song-thaek’s promotion to the NDC deputy post appears linked to Kim Jong-il’s succession. The ‘Dear Leader’ is grooming his third-born, 27-year-old Kim Jong-un, for the post.
Chang, who is known as one of Kim’s staunchest loyalists, is among those who have been promoted in the party, parliament and defence ministry to ensure a smooth transition of power.
International observers now suggest that parliament might make new announcements regarding the succession or issue a hard-line response to sanctions proposed by South Korea at the United Nations over the sinking of ROKN corvette Cheonan.
The incident, which an international commission blamed on a North Korean torpedo, brought the Korean peninsula to the edge of a new war.
