Why so many NK officials die in car accidents?

By Kang Seung-woo

Kim Yang-gon, North Korea’s top official in charge of inter-Korean affairs, has become the latest in a series of high-ranking officials in Pyongyang to die in car accidents.

According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Thursday, Kim was killed in a car accident Tuesday morning at 6:15 a.m.

Other high-profile North Korean officials said to have died in car crashes were Kim’s predecessor Kim Yong-sun, former vice director of the Organization and Guidance Department Ri Je-gang and former chief secretary of the Kangwon Provincial Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party Ri Chol-bong.

So, why do so many North Korean officials die in car accidents?

Some speculate that he might have been killed amid an internal power struggle.

However, the South Korean government does not buy into the idea this time, saying that considering the North’s commemorative language for Kim, his death seems accidental rather than planned or welcomed.

Sources here say the repressive state’s secretive culture is seen as the main reason for frequent car accidents among senior officials.

North Korean officials tend to drive themselves without chauffeurs, leading to increased fatal car accidents, they said.

Kim Yong-sun reportedly had a car accident in June 2003 and underwent brain surgery, but succumbed to his injuries in October of that year.

Kim Yong-sun, who gained much favor from the late dictator Kim Jong-il, father of Kim Jong-un, played a key role in the lead-up to the historical first inter-Korean summit between late President Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il in June 2000.

“If he had not died, he would have contributed to the nation,” Kim Jong-il was quoted as saying by the Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece of the Workers’ Party, in November 2008.

Ri Je-gang, regarded as the closest advisor to Kim Jong-un, was also killed in a traffic accident on June 2, 2010.

In a bid to put his third son in power, Kim Jong-il had instructed Ri to clear the ground within the Workers’ Party.

Ri Chol-bong died in a car accident on Dec. 25, 2009, as well.

Jang Song-thaek, the current leader’s uncle who was executed in December 2013, was also involved in a car accident in September 2006, although he did not die at that time.