hankyoreh

and this is the first time since then that he has been seen in a western suit. He could continue to wear western attire from now. (Yonhap News)

By Choi Hyun-june, staff reporter

Regarding the results of the first session of North Korea’s 13th Supreme People’s Assembly - which opted for stability over change, maintaining most key figures in office - the South Korean Unification Ministry suggested that the North might turn its attention to improving foreign relations and resuming the six-party talks now that it has restored order in its internal affairs.

The analysis was part of a document issued by the Ministry on the afternoon of Apr. 10 that assessed the first session of the 13th Supreme People’s Assembly. The Ministry said it expects Pyongyang to maintain its “two-track” policy of building the economy and nuclear armament at the same time, a policy that was put into place last year. At the same time, the Ministry also suggested that the North could take steps to carry out additional internal economic reforms, pointing to the maintenance of economic reform advocates such as Pak Pong-ju, Premier of North Korea.

This forecast is consistent with the view that Kang Sok-ju, a veteran North Korean diplomat and a member of the Korean Workers’ Party politburo, was removed from his position as Vice Premier at this session of the Supreme People’s Assembly, perhaps in order to give him an even more important role in the Party.

“Kang could have become a member of the KRW secretariat who is in charge of foreign relations,” said Yang Moo-jin, professor at the University of North Korean Studies. This inference is particularly persuasive since Kim Yong-il, who had been in charge of international affairs in the Party, was not called to sit in the leadership section on the main podium during the Supreme People’s Assembly. During the session of the Assembly, a total of 14 people, including North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, sat in the front row of the section, while Kang took his seat in nearly the same place as before.

“Considering that Kang was sitting in the leadership section on the main podium yesterday and that the Party has made no announcement about it, it is too early to conclude that he has been pushed out of the highest level,” said a senior official with the Unification Ministry.

As a figure with firsthand knowledge of previous nuclear negotiations, Kang has experience and wisdom that are critical for the Kim Jong-un regime. Turning 75 years old this year, Kang was the first deputy minister of the KWP Foreign Ministry during the North Korean nuclear crisis in 1994. He negotiated with American nuclear envoy Robert Gallucci during the high-level talks with the US, and he was also present when former US President Jimmy Carter visited the North and met with then leader Kim Jong-il that same year.

Kim Kyong-hee - paternal aunt of Kim Jong-un and Jang Song-thaek’s widow, former head of the KWP Administrative Department - did not appear at the Supreme People’s Assembly, either, and her absence there is increasing interest in her whereabouts. Kim has not been sighted since the sudden execution of her husband at the end of last year.

Some observers believe that Kim has retired from politics. She has not been in good health for some time now, and it is believed that her health deteriorated further after the recent execution of her husband. Kim’s removal from the cabinet is also being seen as an attempt to wipe out the last traces of Jang Song-thaek.

A new addition to the National Defense Committee is Cho Chun-ryong, who is being seen for the first time. Comparing him to Paek Se-bong, a former committee member who had been involved in rocket launches, the Unification Ministry said it is very likely that Cho had been working with missiles as well and that his identity had not been disclosed for security reasons.

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