North Korea's state media confirmed Friday that senior diplomat Ho Yong-bok has become the country's vice foreign minister, as Seoul's spy agency earlier reported.

Ho visited the Egyptian Embassy in Pyongyang for the African country's national day where he stressed the need to keep friendly ties and cooperation between the North and Egypt, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

The report said that he and Egyptian Ambassador Sameh Lotfi Abdelhady exchanged views on the situation in the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula.

The National Intelligence Service said earlier this month that the North recently appointed Ho, the foreign ministry's director-general for the Africa, Arab and Latin America regions, as a new vice foreign minister in a reshuffle. (Yonhap)