Vietnam recently appointed a new ambassador to North Korea, replacing its previous envoy after a longer-than-usual tenure in Pyongyang.

Vietnamese President To Lam on Tuesday designated as ambassador to the DPRK Doan Khanh Tam, the deputy director of the Foreign Ministry’s Information and Documentation Center at the Diplomatic Academy, according to Hanoi’s state-run Vietnam News Agency (VNA).

Tam previously served as Hanoi’s ambassador to Mongolia and deputy director of the National Border Committee, which oversees territorial and border issues.

The current ambassador, Le Ba Vinh, presented his credentialsto Pyongyang in Oct. 2018 and served beyond the typical