SEOUL -- A key meeting of the ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has appointed Pak Thae-song as the country's new premier, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Sunday.

The appointment was among a slew of major personnel announcements made during the Enlarged Meeting of the Eleventh Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) held in Pyongyang from Dec 23 to 27, according to a press release of the plenary session.

Pak was also by-elected as a presidium member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the WPK.

In addition, Choe Son-hui, the country's foreign minister, was by-elected as a member of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee, the report added.