North Korea has replaced its U.S.-blacklisted labor minister, a state media report showed.

Jong Yong-su's replacement was confirmed in a Korean Central News Agency report about a meeting in Pyongyang on Wednesday to mark the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. The report referred to Yun Kang-ho, one of the participants in the meeting, as labor minister.

It was unclear when the replacement happened. Jong was last mentioned in state media reports as labor minister in October 2017, before the U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted him for involvement in human rights violations.

Little is known about the new minister. (Yonhap)