North Korea Appoints New Ambassador to Indonesia, First Since 2015

North Korean Embassy in London. (Yonhap)

JAKARTA - North Korea has appointed a new ambassador to Indonesia after almost a decade of not replacing the envoy at the post. Yonhap, quoted Tuesday, April 21, reported that this appointment was the first to be officially announced since 2015.

Hong Kwang-il was appointed as the new ambassador to Indonesia. He also serves as North Korea's envoy to ASEAN, which has been based in Jakarta.

At the same time, Pyongyang also appointed Mun Myong-sin as the new ambassador to Britain, replacing Choe Il. The North Korean Foreign Ministry called this change the first reshuffle in the London post in almost 10 years.

Mun previously served at the North Korean Embassy in London with Tae Yong-ho, a former senior diplomat who later defected from Pyongyang.

The appointments in Indonesia and the UK are part of a diplomatic rotation in a number of countries. North Korea has also previously placed new ambassadors in Nigeria, Brazil, and Belarus.

This step is said to be in line with Pyongyang's attitude to want to return to carrying out foreign policy more actively based on its national interests.

For Indonesia, this position is quite special. The North Korean ambassador in Jakarta also handles relations with ASEAN, so the role in this position is quite strategic in regional relations.