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North Korea has appointed veteran diplomat Choe Son-hui as its first feminine international minister, state media reported Saturday, as Pyongyang pushes forward with a blitz of sanctions-busting weapons checks and ignores US requires talks.
Choe, who previously served because the North’s vice international minister, was tapped to steer the international ministry at a ruling celebration assembly overseen by chief Kim Jong Un, the state media KCNA reported.
She replaces Ri Son Gwon, a hardline former army official who beforehand led talks with the South.
A profession diplomat who speaks fluent English, Choe served as an in depth aide to Kim throughout nuclear talks with america and accompanied the North Korean chief to summits with then US president Donald Trump.
She held a uncommon query and reply session with reporters on the night time the 2 leaders’ summit in Hanoi collapsed with no deal in February 2019, blaming Washington for the failed talks.
“I believe america has missed a golden alternative with its rejection of our proposals,” she stated.
Diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington have since stalled, with the Kim regime in latest months not responding to america’ repeated affords to return to negotiations.
The nuclear-armed North has in the meantime carried out a blitz of sanctions-busting weapons checks this yr, together with firing an intercontinental ballistic missile at full vary for the primary time since 2017.
US and South Korean officers have additionally warned that Kim’s regime is making ready to hold out what can be its seventh nuclear check — a transfer that Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman warned would provoke a “swift and forceful” response.
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