N. Korea names ruling party member new premier

Pak Pong-ju, who served as North Korea's prime minister in 2003-2007, has been reappointed to the post in a recent government reorganization, the North's media said Monday.

Pak's appointment was confirmed by the North's largely rubber-stamp legislature, the Supreme People's Assembly, according to the report by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)monitored in Seoul.

The 74-year-old Pak, known as an economic expert, was appointed on Sunday to a standing member of the political bureau of the ruling Workers' Party. At a large-scale party meeting in Pyongyang, the North also decided to focus its policy on economic development and expansion of its nuclear capacity.

The North's move comes amid heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula over the country's near-daily threats of war. (YONHAP)