Japan's public broadcaster NHK says North Korea's senior diplomat handling U.S. affairs has been promoted to a vice minister.  

Citing a source with knowledge of Korean Peninsula matters on Wednesday, NHK said Choe Son-hui, director general of the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s North America department, is now a vice minister of the ministry. 

It also pointed to a possible link between her promotion and Pyongyang’s latest overture in favor of talking with the United States.

NHK said Choe took charge of communication with the U.S. in recent years and assumed the role of the North’s deputy representative to the stalled six-party talks. 

It added that even though official dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington has been suspended since February 2012, Choe has represented the country when exchanging opinions with former U.S. officials during international conferences. 

Choe was also said to have contacted U.S. special nuclear envoy Joseph Yun in Norway in May of last year over the release of late American college student Otto Warmbier.

NHK added that no current information is known regarding former North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-ryol.