North Korea promotes nuclear negotiators

North Korea said today it promoted three senior officials involved in nuclear negotiations with the United States in a reshuffle ahead of its biggest political convention in decades.

First Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok Ju, who negotiated a deal with the US in 1994 to freeze and ultimately dismantle North Korea's nuclear reactor in exchange for economic aid, was promoted to vice premier, who oversees the country's foreign policy, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported.