Govt denies Abe to visit N. Korea

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has denied a South Korean news report that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may visit North Korea for talks with leader Kim Jong Un.

Speculation remained that Lee could meet with DPRK leader Kim Jong-un as the young leader invited her to his country past year.

“She is going to Pyongyang, hoping that Koreans in both nations can love one another and peacefully move across the border, as they work together to heal the scars of the 70 years of national division, and reconcile and co-operate based on the spirit of the June 15 joint declaration”, Kim told reporters at Gimpo global Airport in western Seoul.

Choe was last seen in the North’s state media last December at the death anniversary of the late leader Kim Jong-Il, South Korea’s unification ministry said today.

Mr Choe was appointed vice-premier last year, North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency reported previously.

Choe Yong-gon was deputy minister of construction and building material industries, and had represented North Korea in trade talks in Seoul in the mid-2000s.

“The government is closely watching to see what might have happened to him”.

Choe criticised forestry policies promoted by the ruthless dictator, according to the source.

Hyon is believed to have been executed with an anti-aircraft gun in April for his disloyalty toward Kim as he dozed off during a military event.

The North has not officially confirmed Hyon’s execution – reported in May by Seoul’s intelligence agency – but announced his replacement, Pak Yong Sik, in July.

And in a speech in February, Kim Jong-un delivered a speech in which he said: “At present, the forests of the country can be said to have reached a crossroads – whether to perish for ever or to be restored”.