hankyoreh

By Park Hyun, Washington correspondent

A new appointment was recently made to fill the post of North Korea’s Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Han Sung-ryul, the country’s representative on the so-called “New York channel” linking Pyongyang with Washington.

The position was taken over by Jang Il-hun, manager of the international organizations division in the North Korean foreign ministry, sources confirmed.

A diplomatic source said on July 3 that Jang had arrived recently in New York to replace Han, who returned to Pyongyang in mid-June.

“Deputy Ambassador Jang will be assuming US-related duties,” the source added on condition of anonymity.

The New York channel is a diplomatic line connecting the North Korean UN deputy ambassador with the US State Department. Over the years, the two sides have used the channel to coordinate on bilateral dialogue and other issues.

Jang, who is around 50 years old, was part of the North Korean delegation to missile negotiations with the US between 1996 and 2000. His activities afterwards were mostly in the multilateral relations division at North Korea’s foreign ministry, where he handled international organization-related duties. In March 2009, when then-UN special rapporteur on North Korean human rights Vitit Muntarbhorn delivered a special report on the country’s situation before the UN Human Rights Council at the UN’s European headquarters in Geneva, Jang was quoted in the press as calling the report “not only a product of the US’s policies of antagonism against Choson [North Korea], but an attempt by the EU to politicize human rights.”

Han reportedly began expressing a desire to return to North Korea in late 2012. It has not been confirmed what new position he is holding.

Meanwhile, the seat vacated by Clifford Hart, Washington’s special envoy to the six-party talks and the US representative on the New York channel, remains unfilled. Hart was recently assigned as US general consul in Hong Kong.

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