North Korea: Government Reshuffling Amid Succession Plans

During the second meeting of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly in as many months, Jang Song Thaek, Kim Jong Il's brother-in-law, was promoted to vice chairman of the country's National Defense Commission, the most powerful state committee in North Korea. Another official, Choe Yong Rim, was named to lead the country's Cabinet, a position widely viewed as responsible for the country's economic performance. The moves were likely made in an attempt to address (or at least appear to address) the country's economic difficulties, and stabilize leadership ahead of the rumored 2012 succession plan.