N.Korea's Kim reappointed as president of state affairs

Kang Jin-kyu North Korea's legislature has reelected Kim Jong Un as president of state affairs, state media reported on Monday.

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Kim's reappointment as head of the authoritarian nation's highest policymaking and governing body, the State Affairs Commission, was announced by the state news agency KCNA.

Critics argue that elections in North Korea are predetermined and designed to give the country's leadership a veneer of democratic legitimacy.

"The Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK reelected Comrade Kim Jong Un as President of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea at the First Session, the first state affairs activity of its 15th term, on March 22," KCNA reported.

The report said the decision to reelect Kim to the "top post" reflected "the unanimous will and desire of all the Korean people." Kim is the third-generation ruler of the nuclear-armed state founded by his grandfather Kim Il Sung in 1948. He has ruled the country since his father's death in 2011.

President Vladimir Putin on Monday called for Russia and North Korea to further develop their strategic ties, as he congratulated his counterpart King Jung Un on his reappointment as president of state affairs.