But from 2010 (when Kim Jong Un was officially designated as Kim Jong Il’s successor and become more publicly active) through his death at the end of 2015, Kim Yang Gon accompanied the North Korean leader (Kim Jong Il until December 2011 and Kim Jong Un afterward) an average of 38.2 times per year.
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Kim Yang Gon died in a vehicle crash, North Korean state media said on Wednesday.
Kim Yang Gon sat next to Kim Jong Il when the late leader held talks with then-South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun in Pyongyang in 2007.
Most recently, he was one of the two top North Korean officials who attended rare high-level talks in August.
A state funeral committee has been set up, which is chaired by top leader Kim Jong Un.
He will be given a state funeral.
He added: ‘In light of the North’s nature, I don’t see anyone who can replace him in his role in daring offer policy ideas and advice to the leader in these fields’.
Scarlatoiu explains how the late Kim Jong Il used vehicle accidents as cover-ups for North Korean officials’ deaths, who might have been executed or their auto might have been collided with on goal.
Yonhap said the partying habits of North Korean elites were also to blame for their disproportionately high rate of fatal traffic accidents, often driving home drunk after exclusive parties.
Yang-gon was one of Kim Jong-un’s top associates, whom the Korean Central News Agency described as a “trusted revolutionary comrade” who dedicated his life to finding peace with South Korea.
“Most die either because they are machine-gunned, or they die in vehicle crashes”.
Kim Yang Gon, center, and Choe Ryong Hae, right, leave after a meeting with South Korean officials at a hotel in Incheon, South Korea.
The fatal accident occurred just four months after Kim was sent to the border village of Panmunjom with Vice Marshal Hwang Pyong-so to negotiate a deal with South Korea’s national security director, Kim Kwan-jin, and Hong, the unification minister.
The North Korean regime is famous for its secrecy and isolation, making it unlikely it will give a full account of what happened to Kim Yang Gon.
The South Korean government said it had sent a letter of condolence Wednesday to North Korea regarding Kim Yang Gon’s death.
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Regarding Kim’s death, some analysts have cast doubt over the North’s report, raising the possibility that he might have been killed in the disguise of a auto accident by hardliners in the North’s military.
