North Korean Foreign Minister <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-backs-north-korea-amid-deadlocked-nuclear-talks-247322">Ri Yong Ho</a> has been replaced, Seoul-based NK News reported on Saturday.

Ri's replacement has not been identified but <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-sanctions-companies-linked-to-exploiting-north-korean-overseas-labour-274281">Pyongyang</a> is set to reveal his successor about next Thursday, the report said, citing unnamed sources.

South Korea's unification ministry, which is in charge of North Korea affairs, has said that any change in Ri's status should be assessed cautiously.

Born in 1956, Ri is the son of Ri Myong Je, former deputy director of the Organization and Guidance Department (OGD), a shadowy body within the ruling Workers’ Party that oversees the appointment of management positions within the state, according to the South Korean unification ministry.

His father was also an editor at the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the state media body that publishes Pyongyang’s propaganda statements.

A fluent English speaker who studied at Pyongyang’s prestigious University of Foreign Languages, Ri has for years held a number of high-level posts dealing with the West.

From 2003 to 2007, he was North Korea’s ambassador in London and served as vice foreign minister, representing North Korea at six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program.

Ri did not attend the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations in September. He had attended the high-level meeting in New York for three years from 2016 to 2018.

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho has been replaced, Seoul-based NK News reported on Saturday. Ri's replacement has not been identified but Pyongyang is set to reveal his successor about next Thursday, the report said, citing unnamed sources.

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho has been replaced, Seoul-based NK News reported on Saturday. Ri's replacement has not been identified but Pyongyang is set to reveal his successor about next Thursday, the report said, citing unnamed sources. South Korea's unification ministry, which is in charge of North Korea affairs, has said that any change in Ri's status should be assessed cautiously. Born in 1956, Ri is the son of Ri Myong Je, former deputy director of the Organization and Guidance Department (OGD), a shadowy body within the ruling Workers’ Party that oversees the appointment of management positions within the state, according to the South Korean unification ministry. His father was also an editor at the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the state media body that publishes Pyongyang’s propaganda statements. A fluent English speaker who studied at Pyongyang’s prestigious University of Foreign Languages, Ri has for years held a number of high-level posts dealing with the West. From 2003 to 2007, he was North Korea’s ambassador in London and served as vice foreign minister, representing North Korea at six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program. Ri did not attend the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations in September. He had attended the high-level meeting in New York for three years from 2016 to 2018.

North Korean foreign minister replaced: Sources

US President Donald Trump has &quot;lit the wick of war&quot; with North Korea and his country will be made to pay with &quot;a hail of fire&quot;, a Russian news agency quoted North Korea&#39;s foreign minister as saying on Wednesday. 
 
Tensions between North Korea and the United States have risen in recent weeks over Pyongyang&#39;s nuclear weapons and missile programs. 
 
North Korea has test-fired several missiles and conducted what it said was a test explosion of a hydrogen bomb as it advances toward its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the US&nbsp;mainland. 
 
Speaking to Russia&#39;s state-run TASS news agency, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said his country&#39;s nuclear program guaranteed peace and safety in the region and would not be a matter of discussion. 
 
&quot;With his bellicose and insane statement at the United Nations, Trump, you can say, has lit the wick of a war against us,&quot; TASS quoted Ri as saying. &quot;We need to settle the final score, only with a hail of fire, not words.&quot; 
 
Ri has previously called Trump &quot;President Evil&quot; and his comments are likely to fuel an escalating war of words between the U.S. President and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. 
 
&quot;We have almost reached the last point on the journey towards our final goal - to achieve a real balance of power with the United States,&quot; he said. 
 
&quot;Our principal position is that we will never agree to any talks in which our nuclear weapons will be the subject of negotiations.&quot; 
&nbsp;

A Russian news agency quoted North Korea's foreign minister as saying Trump would be made to pay with 'a hail of fire'

US President Donald Trump has "lit the wick of war" with North Korea and his country will be made to pay with "a hail of fire", a Russian news agency quoted North Korea's foreign minister as saying on Wednesday. Tensions between North Korea and the United States have risen in recent weeks over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and missile programs. North Korea has test-fired several missiles and conducted what it said was a test explosion of a hydrogen bomb as it advances toward its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the US mainland. Speaking to Russia's state-run TASS news agency, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said his country's nuclear program guaranteed peace and safety in the region and would not be a matter of discussion. "With his bellicose and insane statement at the United Nations, Trump, you can say, has lit the wick of a war against us," TASS quoted Ri as saying. "We need to settle the final score, only with a hail of fire, not words." Ri has previously called Trump "President Evil" and his comments are likely to fuel an escalating war of words between the U.S. President and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. "We have almost reached the last point on the journey towards our final goal - to achieve a real balance of power with the United States," he said. "Our principal position is that we will never agree to any talks in which our nuclear weapons will be the subject of negotiations."

North Korea says Trump has 'lit the wick of war': Russian media

North Korea&#39;s foreign minister&nbsp;on Friday&nbsp;said North Korea will continue to strengthen its &quot;national nuclear armed forces in both quantity and quality&quot; despite UN sanctions.&nbsp; 
 
Ri Yong Ho during his address to the United Nations General Assembly said the country&#39;s nuclear weapons are a &quot;a righteous self-defence measure&quot; against &quot;constant nuclear threats of the United States&quot;. 
 
&quot;Going nuclear-armed is the policy of our state,&quot; Yong Ho said. 
 
North Korea is the &quot;most dangerous hotspot, which can even ignite the outbreak of nuclear war&quot; and the blame will lie &quot;squarely&quot; with the US, the foreign minister said. 
 
&quot;As long as there exists a nuclear-weapon state in hostile relations with the DPRK (Democratic People&#39;s Republic of Korea), our national security and peace on the Korean peninsula can be defended only with reliable nuclear deterrence,&quot; he said.&nbsp; 
 
Ri also said the UN Security Council&#39;s decision to impose sanctions was only &quot;covering up the high-handedness and arbitrariness of the United States&quot;. 
 
The country conducted its fifth and largest nuclear test on September 9, igniting global ire and condemnation. This has led to talks on imposing new UN sanctions against the isolated country.&nbsp; 
 
No negotiations on THAAD 
 
Daniel Russel, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asia, said there will be no negotiations regarding the THAAD anti-missile system, which is set to be deployed in South Korea, as part of the UN sanctions agreement. &nbsp; 
&quot;No. The two countries have made a decision,&quot; he told Reuters. 
 
Although China remains opposed to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, it has agreed to work with the UN on imposing tough sanctions on North Korea.&nbsp; 
 
According to The Diplomat, THAAD is particularly well-suited to intercept and destroy short, medium and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in their terminal phase.&nbsp; 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies) 
&nbsp;

US says THAAD missile deployment system not negotiable as part of new sanctions on the country

North Korea's foreign minister on Friday said North Korea will continue to strengthen its "national nuclear armed forces in both quantity and quality" despite UN sanctions. Ri Yong Ho during his address to the United Nations General Assembly said the country's nuclear weapons are a "a righteous self-defence measure" against "constant nuclear threats of the United States". "Going nuclear-armed is the policy of our state," Yong Ho said. North Korea is the "most dangerous hotspot, which can even ignite the outbreak of nuclear war" and the blame will lie "squarely" with the US, the foreign minister said. "As long as there exists a nuclear-weapon state in hostile relations with the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), our national security and peace on the Korean peninsula can be defended only with reliable nuclear deterrence," he said. Ri also said the UN Security Council's decision to impose sanctions was only "covering up the high-handedness and arbitrariness of the United States". The country conducted its fifth and largest nuclear test on September 9, igniting global ire and condemnation. This has led to talks on imposing new UN sanctions against the isolated country. No negotiations on THAAD Daniel Russel, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asia, said there will be no negotiations regarding the THAAD anti-missile system, which is set to be deployed in South Korea, as part of the UN sanctions agreement. "No. The two countries have made a decision," he told Reuters. Although China remains opposed to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, it has agreed to work with the UN on imposing tough sanctions on North Korea. According to The Diplomat, THAAD is particularly well-suited to intercept and destroy short, medium and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in their terminal phase. (WION with inputs from agencies)

North Korea defies UN, vows to strengthen nuclear capability