North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presides over a meeting of the secretariat of the central committee of the North's Workers' Party in Pyongyang, Sunday, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency, Monday. Yonhap

By Kang Seung-woo

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's reshuffle of his foreign minister and the post in charge of inter-Korean relations means that he has laid the groundwork for dialogue with South Korea and the United States in the future, according to experts, even though he is highly anticipated to conduct a nuclear test soon.

According to North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, who used to play a key role in denuclearization talks, has been promoted to the post of foreign minister. In addition, Foreign Minister Ri Son-gwon has been tapped to lead the ruling Workers' Party's United Front Department tasked with handling ties with South Korea.

The announcement triggered rampant speculation here that Pyongyang will also adopt a confrontational stance against the new South Korean government and the U.S. administration, both of which have refused to yield to the North Korean regime.

However, Rep. Tae Yong-ho of the ruling People Power Party, who previously served as North Korea's No. 2 diplomat in Britain until he defected to South Korea with his family in July 2016, said the impoverished country was gearing up for post-nuclear-test talks with the South and the U.S.

His prediction comes as the totalitarian state is poised to carry out a seventh nuclear test, according to South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities.

Despite concurring on the projection of a looming North Korean nuclear test, Tae said the appointments were made looking beyond the nuclear provocation.

"Kim Jong-un's reshuffle seems to represent preparations for negotiations with the U.S. and South Korea rather than an intention to engage in a tit-for-tat," Tae said, adding that Choe and Ri have a reputation for being seasoned negotiators with South Korea and the U.S.

"Who wins in a face-to-face contest is decided by who wins a favorable agreement. North Korea created a confrontational mood on the Korean Peninsula in 2017, but transformed it into a conciliatory one the following year, which led to the Panmunjeom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Reunification of the Korean Peninsula and the joint statement from the U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore," he said.

Tae added: "That is why North Korea celebrates them as its own victory."

Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute, also said the appointment of Choe, who has a wealth of diplomatic experience under her belt, was meant to invigorate the country's diplomacy.

The North Korean diplomat-turned-politician said the Kim regime will conduct a nuclear test judging by the precedent that it has done so every time a new South Korean leader was inaugurated.

"Since North Korea carried out its first nuclear test in 2006, with the Roh Moo-hyun administration at the helm, it has repeated that at the early stage of each South Korean administration. In that respect, the North would follow suit," Tae said.

"Like 2017, Kim Jong-un will repeatedly test nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles to rattle the Yoon Suk-yeol administration in its early phase, but it may strategically turn to a conciliatory stance to draw concessions from South Korea and the U.S."

Meanwhile, the North Korean leader called for stronger self-defense measures to tackle "very serious" security challenges as he presided over a ruling party session last week, according to media reports on Saturday.