Kim was part of a high-level delegation that held talks with South Korea in August after the rival states exchanged artillery fire, raising tensions to one of the highest points in recent years.
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Kim Yang-gon visited South Korea in 2009 to pay his respects to late President Kim Dae-jung, who held the first inter-Korean summit with Kim Jong-il in 2000.
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However, lawmakers briefed by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told local media that, as the spy agency understood, Kim had been killed in an accident as announced.
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Relations between North and South could be conducted in a more “rigid” manner, the South Korean analyst said, adding that even though Choe could have been reinstated, Kim Yang Gon’s potential replacements do not have the depth and breadth of his experience. Mr. Choe was omitted from the funeral committee list for another top official last month, leading to speculation that he had been purged.
“The government has offered its condolences for the death of Kim, who contributed to a meaningful agreement at the August talks”.
Kim Yang-Gon was the only North Korean official present at their meeting in Pyongyang.
South Korean analysts believe that seasoned policy aides like Kim Yang Gon served as a calming voice for the young Kim Jong Un, advising him on when to employ gestures of reconciliation and when to use brinkmanship and saber rattling to shore up his leadership image in the highly militarised country.
Wednesday’s KCNA dispatch described him as the leader’s “closest comrade-in-arms and steadfast revolutionary comrade” who had made “dedicated” efforts to push for unification with South Korea. Internal regime politics, however, will likely play a major role in the selection of Kim’s successor and, therefore, it is hard to predict who that person will be. In 2007, Kim transitioned from worldwide to inter-Korean affairs when he became director of the WPK United Front Department, the North’s primary organization for dealing with South Korea and inter-Korean relations.
Ri Je-Gang, a top party official in charge of assigning official posts to party members, died in a auto crash in 2010 when he was rumoured to be involved in a power struggle with Jang Song-Thaek, the brother-in-law of Kim Jong-Il. The late Kim Jong-il passed away in late 2011.
North Korea’s road network is badly maintained and few people in the country own cars.
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Reports of the deaths often come from the NIS, defectors or other sources rather than North Korean state media.
