Seoul, Aug 14 (TIWN) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appointed a new premier during a politburo meeting of the ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang, state-media reported on Friday.

According to Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the appointment was made during the meeting on Thursday.

Workers' Party Vice Chairman Kim Tok-hun took over as the country's new premier, while replacing Kim Jae-ryong, Yonhap News Agency quoted the KCNA as saying

Meanwhile, Ri Pyong-chol, who has overseen the North's nuclear and missile development, was elected as a new politburo member, it added.

During the meeting, Pyongyang also decided to lift the lockdown on Kaesong imposed for three weeks from July 24 after a North Korean defector allegedly returned home to the border city from the South with coronavirus symptoms.

Kim said the decision "proved the situation of anti-epidemic work has been kept and controlled stably".

Due to the coronavirus risk, the leader also warned against accepting any outside assistance to help the country mitigate the serious damage from recent heavy downpours.

"Our state faces two challenges: anti-epidemic work to thoroughly cope with the world public health crisis and unexpected sudden natural disaster," KCNA quoted Kim as saying in the meeting, calling on officials to "overcome these two crises at the same time".

A total of 39,296 hectares of crops were damaged, while at least 16,680 homes and some 630 public buildings were flooded or destroyed across the country, the KCNA said.