N. Korea appoints new ambassador to Cuba

North Korea on Thursday appointed a new top envoy to Cuba, nearly five months after its former ambassador left the Caribbean nation following the establishment of diplomatic ties between South Korea and Cuba. In a one-sentence announcement on its website, North Korea's foreign ministry said Han Su-chol has been appointed as the country's ambassador to Havana. Han is presumed to be the vice department director of the international division at the Central Committee of the North's ruling Workers' Party of Korea, whose name has appeared in state media reports. In February, South Korea and Cuba forged formal diplomatic ties in a surprise move that many viewed as dealing a diplomatic blow to the North, which has long maintained brotherly ties with the Caribbean nation. The following month, then Ambassador to Cuba Ma Chol-su left the country in what some observers viewed as North Korea's display of discontent over the move. The North has since refrained from mentioning Cuba in its state media reports. Source : Yonhap News Agency