By Kim Hyo-jin
Kim Yang-gon, a senior North Korean official who was in charge of inter-Korean affairs, died in a car accident Tuesday, the North’s state media announced Wednesday. He was 73.
Kim was secretary of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party and the head of its United Front Department (UFD), reported Pyongyang’s state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). No details of the accident were provided.
Citing him as the “closest revolutionary comrade” of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, KCNA said the central committee has appointed a state funeral committee with the nation’s leader as its chairman. The funeral will be held today, it added.
His sudden death came weeks after inter-Korean high-level talks ended in mid-December with no progress having been made in improving ties, chilling the conciliatory mood expected after an inter-Korean deal reached Aug. 25.
Kim attended the previous inter-Korean talks that led to a landmark deal that defused military tension on the peninsula sparked by an exchange of fire across the inter-Korean border.
A few hours after KCNA reported the news, the South Korean government expressed its condolences to the North in a letter sent to the UFD under the name of Seoul’s Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo.
“We delivered our condolences over the death of Kim who helped reach a meaningful inter-Korean deal during the August high-level talks,” Jeong Joon-hee, a ministry spokesman, told a press briefing.
It is the first time in eight years since Seoul delivered official condolences to Pyongyang after the North’s Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun died in 2007. When Kim Jong-il died in 2011, Seoul issued a government statement offering condolences to the North instead of doing it officially.
The death of Kim, who had overseen South Korean affairs, could have a negative impact on efforts to improve relations.
“Kim was an experienced foreign affairs adviser with a moderate stance toward South Korea who closely assisted young leader Kim Jong-un. The disappearance of such a figure could prevent North Korea from being flexible in dealing with South Korean affairs at least for the short term,” said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University.
Chang Yong-seok, a senior researcher at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University, agreed, saying, “It could further suspend the stalled inter-Korean talks.”
Kim has been known as a top aide for North Korean leaders, tasked with easing the fractious relationship with South Korea.
Appointed as the head of the UFD in early 2007, he played a significant role in realizing the inter-Korean summit between then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
Since Kang Sok-ju, a secretary in charge of foreign relations for the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, stepped down due to bad health, Kim has been in charge of overall foreign affairs including handling relations with China.
In recent months, Kim appeared frequently alongside the young leader at various farm and factory inspections as well as diplomatic meetings.
North Korea announced the member list of the state funeral committee including Choe Ryong-hae, Pyongyang’s sixth-in-command, who was reportedly sentenced to hard labor at a collective farm in November for poorly managing the construction of a newly built hydroelectric power plant in Ryanggang Province.
“It could mean that Choe might still hold his post as a Politics Bureau member even though he stopped engaging in party activities,” Yang Moo-jin, a professor of the University of North Korean Studies, said. “Being on the list signals the possibility of him soon coming back into the power circle.”