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Norks name senior diplomat as ambassador to Iran
SEOUL, May 22 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Saturday it named a senior 61-year-old diplomat to head its embassy in Iran, a Middle Eastern country long accused of joint nuclear and missile development with Pyongyang. Jo In-chol, who previously served as ambassador to the Philippines and Thailand, was appointed in a parliamentary decree, the official Korean Central News Agency said in a brief report.

Information on Jo was scarce. He headed a department in charge of protocol at the North's foreign ministry for over two years until his latest appointment. A graduate of a top North Korean language institute, he accompanied the communist state's nominal state head, Kim Yong-nam, when he visited Bangkok in 2002 to forge a trade agreement.

Iran and North Korea set up diplomatic relations in 1973.
Posted by: Steve White 2010-05-23
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=297354