PYONGYANG, Oct. 27 -- The Philippines has appointed an ambassador to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the official KCNA news agency reported Friday.

Kim Yong Nam, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, received credentials from Jose Santiago L. Sta. Romana at the Mansudae Assembly Hall on Friday, the report said.

The Philippines thus becomes the fifth country in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to have an ambassador-level representative in Pyongyang.

Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia are the other four ASEAN nations which have embassies in Pyongyang. Malaysia closed its embassy in March.