First woman in post
Nuclear negotiator becomes North Korean foreign minister
6/11/2022 7:53 am
In the nuclear talks between Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington, Choe Son Hui is acting as an advisor to ruler Kim Jong Un. Now the 57-year-old is climbing up the career ladder. In the future, the diplomat will head the North Korean Foreign Ministry.
North Korea has a female foreign minister for the first time. Veteran diplomat Choe Son Hui, who previously served as deputy foreign minister, was appointed minister at a Communist Party meeting led by ruler Kim Jong Un, state news agency KCNA reported. The 57-year-old replaces Ri Son Gwon, an ex-military man who led talks with South Korea prior to his ministerial post.
At the meeting, Kim presented goals to strengthen military power to protect North Korea’s sovereign rights, KCNA reported without giving further details. “The right to self-defense is a matter of defending sovereignty and once again illustrates the party’s unchanging principle of struggle: power for power and frontal struggle,” KCNA leader Kim was quoted as saying.
A career diplomat, Choe, who speaks fluent English, was a close adviser to Kim on the nuclear talks with the US and also accompanied him to summits with then-US President Donald Trump. At a rare press conference after the failed summit in Hanoi in 2019, she blamed the US for the failure of the talks. “I think the United States missed a golden opportunity by rejecting our proposals,” she said.
Talks with the US have stalled since the Hanoi summit. In recent months, Pyongyang has turned down several offers of talks from Washington. With more than 20 North Korean missile tests since the beginning of the year, the tense situation on the Korean peninsula has recently worsened. North Korea tested eight short-range missiles last Sunday, according to the South Korean Army General Staff. The United States has also been warning for weeks that North Korea could soon carry out a nuclear weapons test for the first time since 2017.