North Korea’s recent Ninth Party Congress revealed reshuffles of military and regional party bodies that, upon closer examination, suggest broader changes are in the works for the years ahead.

Pyongyang approved the new slate of Central Committee officials during the congress in February, where leader Kim Jong Un laid out the country’s overall agenda and reiterated his openness to talks with the U.S. if it withdraws its “hostile policy.”

One possibly important change involved Pyongyang mayor Choe Hui Thae. Although he was identified as the head of Pyongyang’s People’s Committee