N. Korea names new Seoul pointman

SEOUL, April 4 (UPI) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il named his close aide to handle relations with South Korea, a Seoul daily said Wednesday.

Kim Yang Gon, councilor of the North's National Defense Commission, has taken the helm of the unification organ of the ruling Workers' Party, Yonhap News Agency said.

"In mid-March, Kim Yang Gon, one of Kim's closest aides, was appointed as the chief of the organ, so it is expected to lay the groundwork for improving inter-Korean relations," an unidentified source was quoted as saying.

The post has been vacant since the death of Rim Dong Ok in August last year. Rim's predecessor, Kim Yong Sun, died in a traffic accident in 2003.