New Face in the N.Korean Regime
A new face has joined North Korea's powerful National Defense Commission at the first session of the newly-elected Supreme People's Assembly on Wednesday. Cho Chun-ryong appears to have replaced Paek Se-bong, the ousted chief of the Second Economic Commission in charge of the munitions industry, according to a government official here Thursday.
The National Defense Commission is the North's top governing body consisting of only nine members, including leader Fat Boy Kim Jong-un. But Cho is an almost unknown quantity to outsiders.
"It seems probable that Cho had been a vice chairman of the Second Economic Commission or head of its missiles bureau and worked in the missile development sector for a long time," the official speculated. "The regime may have concealed his identity for security reasons."
At one stage, Paek was rumored to be a son or heir of former leader Kim Jong-il when his identity was an equal mystery.
The Kangdong No. 76 electoral district, where Cho ran for the rubber-stamp parliament, is in Pyongyang's Kangdong District, where the Second Economic Commission has its offices.
Posted by: Steve White 2014-04-13 |