North Korean media has confirmed Hwang Pyong-so is the North’s new general political department director of the Korean People’s Army.
 
The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) introduced Hwang as the new head of the powerful military politburo in its report about May Day, or Labor Day, celebrations. 
 
The latest appointment is likely to have been announced last Saturday during a meeting of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea chaired by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
 
Hwang was appointed to the new post just less than two weeks after being promoted to vice-marshal, following his mid-March promotion to Senior Deputy Director of the Organization Guidance Department under the North Korean Workers’ Party.
 
Hwang, a close aide of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, replaced Choe Ryong-hae. KCNA did not say why Choe was removed from the post or if he was dismissed from other top positions, including senior member of the General Political Bureau and vice chairman of the National Defense Commission.
 
Observers have ruled out the possibility Choe was purged as he appeared in a photograph as a vice-marshal at the front row of the April 26th meeting of the Central Military Commission.