A 73-year-old North Korean aide to leader Kim Jong Un died in a vehicle crash, the country’s official news agency reported Wednesday.
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Kim Yang Gon, who was a secretary of the Workers’ Party, played a key role in high-level talks in August after the two Koreas exchanged artillery fire, taking tensions to a new level.
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A list of people forming Kim Yang Gon’s funeral committee includes Choe Ryong Hae, another close associate of Kim Jong Un who South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said last month was banished to a rural collective farm for re-education.
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The Korean Central News Agency described him as Kim Jong-un’s “closest comrade, a solid revolutionary partner”.
The veteran diplomat also served under the late Kim Il Sung, the supreme leader of the North when it was established in 1948.
His name was listed sixth, after Kim’s and four other senior party officials. Jeong, the ministry spokesman, said it was the first time Pyongyang had officially identified a traffic accident as the cause of death for one of its senior officials.
The KCNA’s report and obituary can be read here.
A leader… Kim Yang Gon, centre, a secretary of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party.
“His predecessor in the same position died in a vehicle accident”, said Han Park, a professor of worldwide relations at the University of Georgia, referencing the 2003 death of Kim Yong Soon.
Park, who helped secure the release of two American journalists detained in North Korea in 2009, said he doubted that there had been any disagreement between Kim Yang Gon and Kim Jong Un.
With analysts questioning whether the North’s attitude towards South Korea would become even more unpredictable, Seoul refused to comment on the matter.
Mr Gon was thought to be one of Kim Jong Un’s trusted officials, frequently accompanying the leader during routine visits to army units and factories. Hyon’s death came several weeks after 15 senior North Korean officials were executed.
And Mr Kim had his powerful uncle Jang Song Thaek executed in December 2012 on charges of treason and corruption, allowing Mr Choe to emerge as his right-hand man.
The late Kim has long led the communist state’s external policy affairs including cross-border issues and those related to China – a reason why observers say his death would influence Pyongyang’s foreign policy to a certain extent.
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HWACHEON, South Korea – A South Korean soldier was found dead on the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone early Wednesday morning in a gun-related incident, the military said.
