Former Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui has been appointed as North Korea’s first female foreign minister, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) revealed on Saturday.
Choe, a longtime member of North Korea’s nuclear negotiation team, was appointed following a plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, which ran from June 8 to June 10 and was overseen by North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un.
“The right to self-defense is an issue of defending sovereignty, clarifying once again the Party's invariable fighting principle of power for power and head-on contest,” the North Korean leader said, as reported by state media.
KCNA noted that Pyongyang intends to boost support of the North Korean military, as well as defense research efforts to maintain its sovereign rights on the Korean Peninsula.
The state media summary of the plenary meeting did not include any mention of nuclear weapons.
The former nuclear envoy’s new gig comes alongside Western accusations that Pyongyang is readying a test site in preparation for its seventh nuclear test.
“The conduct of a nuclear test would contravene UN Security Council resolutions and would be a cause for serious concern,” said IAEA General-Director Rafael Grossi.
The US has also threatened to push the United Nations to wage sanctions against North Korea if such a test occurs.
South Korean and US officials also spoke out against North Korea’s recent military actions and revealed that Washington and Seoul met on the sidelines of a security conference and decided “to expand the scope and scale of South Korea-US combined exercises as agreed at the two countries’ [Singapore] summit in order to maintain steadfast deterrence and constant readiness,” read a Saturday release from the South Korean Defense Ministry.
According to CNN, Choe’s latest statement toward the US was made last year, when she demanded Washington cease its “hostile policy” against Pyongyang, which included joint drills with Seoul.
The Pentagon issued a statement noting that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Lee Jong Sup discussed the US’ continued commitment to the defense of South Korea. The “ironclad” agreement is “underpinned by the full range of US capabilities, including nuclear,” the statement said.