North Korean from ruling family becomes Czech ambassador

Kim Pyong- Il, the younger half brother of the former leader of North Korea Kim Jong Il and son of the regimes founder Kim Il-Sung, was accepted as North Korea’s ambassador to the Czech Republic on Thursday. His credentials were accepted, along with four other new ambassadors, by President Miloš Zeman at Prague Castle. Kim Pyong-Il had previously been ambassador in Poland for the past 17 years. Experts on the North Korean regime say Kim Pyong- Il has been kept in virtual exile at a series of European posts because he is feared as a possible rival to leaders if he returns home.

Author: Chris Johnstone