E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

A Real WTF? From Nkor
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has ordered his Cabinet and the Workers' Party to appoint economic technocrats to major foreign missions in an effort to learn from outside economies, a government official in Seoul said.

The order came after Kim returned last month from a nine-day trip to China's southern booming commercial cities, including Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Shenzhen. Kim was evidently impressed by the thriving economy of his nation's red capitalist neighbor. Kim toured the same cities that Deng Xiaoping, the late Chinese leader, visited during his famous "southern tour" in 1992, after which he repeated his call for a greater opening of China's markets.

Under Kim's order, North Korea is prepared to name senior Trade Ministry officials as ambassadors to Russia, Germany and other countries. "Vice Minister of Trade Kim Yong-Jae was designated as North Korea's new ambassador to Russia," the official said.

Mun Chang-Hun, a director at the Trade Ministry, has replaced North Korea’s ambassador to Germany the official said. “Official announcements would come sooner or later,” the official said.

Kim Jong-Il has also ordered Prime Minister Pak Pong-Ju, an economic technocrat, to manage the country's day-to-day economic affairs, according to intelligence officials.
A NKor economic technocrat?
South Korea's spy agency also said that North Korea has designated some economic technocrats to lead diplomatic posts in other countries in Europe and Asia. "The move is expected to prompt a massive generation sift in the country's diplomatic elite," an intelligence official said. The North's diplomatic posts overseas have been assumed by Kim's aides, including Pak Ui-Chun, in his 70s, who has been Pyongyang's ambassador to Moscow since April 1998.
Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-02-25
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=143757