Shifts of power in North Korea give rare indications as to who wields clout in the notoriously secretive state.
North Korea has chosen a new nominal head of state after two decades, appointing a man who helped prepare supreme leader Kim Jong Un for power.
Choe, 69, replaced 91-year-old Kim Yong Nam, a former foreign minister given the job upon its creation under late supreme leader Kim Jong Il in 1998. The position replaced a previous one left vacant after the death of the country's first leader, Kim Il Sung, in 1994. Choe is described by North Korea Leadership Watch, a blog written by expert Michael Madden and affiliated with the Stimson Center's 38 North project, as"one of the most powerful officials in the DPRK’s formal hierarchy." He has extensive relationships with North Korea's elite and helped lay the groundwork for Kim Jong Il's own succession before serving his son, roughly half Choe's age.
Choe's prominence has garnered the attention of the U.S., which has continued to sanction top North Korean officials in spite of an ongoing peace effort between Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump. In December 2018, the Treasury Department targeted Choe, describing him as"the 'number two' official with control over the party, government and military."
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