朝鲜更换强硬派国防部长

虽然朝鲜没有正式宣布，但是朝鲜官方的中央通讯社说，张政男陪同朝鲜领导人金正恩一同观看一个文艺演出。报道称张政男是人民武装部长。

张政男取代了强硬派的金格植。据信，金格植是2010年朝鲜炮击韩国前线岛屿延坪岛，造成4人死亡事件的幕后主导人物。

朝鲜国防部长易人，正值朝鲜半岛从因朝鲜2月进行核试验而加剧的军事紧张关系中走出来的时候。

North Korea has replaced its hard-line defense chief with a little-known army general.

Although no official announcement was made, a news report from the official Korean Central News Agency named Jang Jong Nam as among the party officials attending an art performance with leader Kim Jong Un. He was identified as the minister of the People's Armed Forces.

He replaces hawkish General Kim Kyok Sik, who is believed responsible for the 2010 shelling of a South Korean border island that killed four people.

The change comes as the Korean peninsula is emerging from a period of heightened military tensions that followed the North's nuclear test in February.