North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has appointed a new head of government. Kim Dok-hoon will be the prime minister of the DPRK, the Central Telegraph Agency of Korea (CTAC) reported.
Kim Jae-ryong, who has served as head of the North Korean government since 2019, has been relieved of his duties as Prime Minister of the DPRK Cabinet of Ministers, and 59-year-old Kim Dok Hoon has become his successor in this post.
“The prime minister is seen as the chief executive of economic management, and the appointment of Kim Dok Hoon to this post in place of Kim Jae Ryong could exonerate the North Korean leader from blame for any hardships associated with a poor harvest,” the Japan Times suggests. “Kim Dok Hoon is a senior official who chairs the parliamentary budget committee.”
“The North Korean economy was facing serious problems and someone had to take on political responsibility,” said Choi Kang, vice president of the Asan Institute for Policy Research in Seoul. “It looks like a precautionary measure to counterbalance complaints from the people of North Korea.”
At the same time, as reported by the South Korean news agency Renhap, Kim Jae Ren became deputy chairman of the Central Committee of the Korea Labor Party.
Little is known about the new head of the DPRK prime minister – it is reported that he is a full member of the Politburo of the WPK and headed the budget committee of the parliament. Previously, he was a member of the delegation on cooperation between the DPRK and South Korea, and then was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of the Supreme People’s Assembly.
According to the Central Committee of the People’s Republic of Kazakhstan, on August 13, the 16th meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the 7th convocation party was held at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the WPK, in which Kim Jong-un took part.
At a meeting of the Politburo, data on damage from the recent disastrous downpour and flood were announced. According to the Central Information Center, during the rainy period, agricultural crops were damaged, more than 16,680 residential buildings, and more than 630 public buildings were destroyed and flooded. Various areas of the national economy also suffered serious damage, including many roads, bridges and railways were damaged, the dam of the hydroelectric power station was destroyed. At the meeting, it was said that residents of the affected areas are experiencing great household deprivation in the places of evacuation.
Citing summary data on the extent of the damage, Kim Jong-un “noted that words cannot express the plight and suffering of the flood victims who have lost their homes, property and live in temporary residences. And he convincingly said that in such circumstances as now, not others, but our party should bear full responsibility for them, share grief with the people and come closer to them in order to alleviate their pain. ”
Kim Jong-un named two challenges facing the DPRK: “to vigorously deploy the anti-epidemic struggle for a consistent response to the global health crisis and overcome unforeseen natural disasters.”
“The distinguished senior leader said that the reality in which the situation of the global spread of the malignant virus is deteriorating requires us not to allow any outside support in connection with flood damage, to block the border more impregnable, and to strictly carry out anti-epidemic work,” says TsTAK.
