North
Korea named the four-star general appointed to the vacant post of
defence minister on Saturday, three months after his predecessor was
reportedly executed.
The
country’s KCNA news agency referred to General Pak Yong-sik as “head of
the Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces,” the country’s defence
minister equivalent, in a report on military talks held with the
government of Laos.
Pak
has appeared in numerous state media reports in recent weeks as part of
the entourage of leader Kim Jong-Un, fuelling speculation he was to
take the position.
The
defence minister is thought to rank the second or third highest in the
country’s military hierarchy, South Korea’s Yonhap agency said.
Pak was promoted to major general in the North’s army in 1999, according to Yonhap, rising to become a four-star general in May.
It
is the first time the North has confirmed that a replacement has been
chosen after the purging of the previous defence minister, Hyon
Yong-chol, in April.
South
Korea’s spy agency initially said Hyon was removed for disloyalty and
dozing off during official events presided over by Kim.
But
doubts later surfaced over his reported execution when the National
Intelligence Service clarified that it had been unable to verify he had
been put to death.
An
opposition MP said at the time it was “odd” that North Korean state TV
had continued to show recorded footage featuring the defence minister
even after he had supposedly been purged.
The North’s state-run media typically deletes all past mentions of purged officials and air-brushes them from any TV footage.
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