Kim Yang-Gon was a secretary of the Workers' Party and head of its United Front Department, the unit that handles the North's sensitive ties with South Korea.
He was part of a high-level delegation that held talks in August after the rival states exchanged artillery fire, raising tensions to a level not seen for years.
Those talks produced a breakthrough that ended the stand-off and an agreement for the two sides to work to hold more discussions to improve ties.
The state news agency, KCNA, said Kim died on Tuesday in an accident at the age of 73. No details of the accident were provided.
KCNA said Kim was Kim Jong-Un's "closest comrade, a solid revolutionary partner" and that the secretive state's leader would head an 80-member state funeral on Thursday.
Kim Jong-Un has dismissed a string of aides in top positions since he took over following his father's sudden death in 2011.
In 2013, he purged and executed his uncle Jang Song-Thaek, who was once considered the second most powerful man in the country for "anti-revolutionary crimes."
Impoverished North Korea's road network is badly maintained and car ownership is rare, yet several high-level officials have died in traffic accidents over the years.
In 1976, an official said to rival to then-president Kim Il Sung died in a car crash.
In 2003, a predecessor to Kim Yang-Gon died in a traffic accident and in 2010 top official Ri Je-Gang also died in a car crash.
"North Korea has a long track record of suspicious deaths around high-level officials," North Korea expert Andrei Lankov told Reuters.
"Most die either because they are machine-gunned, or they die in car crashes".
"There are almost no cars and security for high-officials travelling in cars is extremely tight. Given that, one is bound to be sceptical about any such report coming from North Korea."
No comments:
Post a Comment