NK’s Pointman on South Executed

By Kim Jae-kyoung
Staff Reporter

North Korea executed its point-man on South Korea last year, holding him accountable for instituting ``wrong'' South Korean policies during previous liberal governments, Yonhap News Agency, and MBC, the nation's second largest broadcaster, reported Monday.

The news agency said that Choe Sung-chol, former vice chairman of the North's Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, who disappeared from public sight early last year, was reportedly executed last year for his ``wrong judgments'' on Seoul.

The execution is widely seen as a sign that North Korea has moved toward a hard-line policy after South Korea seemingly halted a decade-long engagement policy toward Pyeongyang.

The news agency quoted informed sources as saying, ``Choe has become a scapegoat of what were believed to be wrong South Korean policies. Officially, the North accused him of corruption in handling inter-Korean matters.''

``However, the truth is that the regime there held him accountable for his judgments on the liberal governments' sunshine policy, and wrong predictions about the Lee Myung-bak administration,'' it added.

The Ministry of Unification, which earlier acknowledged Choe's dismissal, however, said that it could not confirm whether he had been executed or not.

Yonhap quoted another source as saying, ``Despite strong opposition from the North's hardliners, Choe had pressed ahead with bold reconciliation with Seoul's previous liberal governments headed by Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Dae-jung.''

``But inter-Korean relations deteriorated after the government change in the South, and he was blamed for `misjudgments' and other fallout.''

Choe, also a deputy director of the Workers' Party inter-Korean department, came into the public spotlight in 2007, when he escorted Roh throughout his visit to Pyeongyang for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Choe is known to have played a key role in arranging the summit

Citing another informed source, MBC said the North Korean government held Choe accountable for the unwanted impact of its dependence on the capitalist South, which has grown with economic exchanges.

He initially represented the North Korean delegation to the Red Cross talks with the Kim Dae-jung administration, and then further expanded his role as the chief inter-Korean policymaker during the Roh era.

The sources said that the Stalinist regime has investigated officials involved in inter-Korean relations during the Roh administration, as relations have recently turned sour. Since he took office early last year, President Lee dropped the sunshine policy by cutting off unconditional aid to the North, and has taken a tougher stance on its nuclear weapons program.

kjk@koreatimes.co.kr

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