Seoul, March 15 (TIWN) A North Korean nuclear negotiator has been appointed as the Ambassador to Austria, replacing a son-in-law of the country's founder Kim Il-sung, state media said in a report on Sunday.

Choe Kang-il, acting director-general of the Foreign Ministry's North American affairs bureau, had been involved in nuclear negotiations with the US, including preparatory talks ahead of the second summit in Hanoi last year between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and American President Donald Trump, Yonhap News Agency quoted Pyongyang's KCNA as saying in a report on Saturday.

Choe was named to replace Kim Kwang-sop, the husband of Kim Kyong-jin, a half-sister of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, according to the KCNA.