SEOUL: North Korea has appointed the main English language translator for leader Kim Jong-Il as its ambassador to Egypt, reports said Monday.
Ri Hyok-Chol was given the post by a decree of the Presidium of the North s parliament, the North s official Korean Central News Agency said in a one-sentence dispatch.
The South s Yonhap news agency said Ri interpreted for Kim during his meeting with visiting US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in 2000.
Ri was chosen to study abroad on a government scholarship while in university and honed his English skills at a university in Guyana from 1978-1982, Yonhap said.
After returning home, Ri worked as a professor and simultaneous interpreter at various international meetings, it said.
North Korea and Egypt established diplomatic ties in 1963. -AFP
