N Korea top official dies in car crash

Choe’s reinstatement was revealed when North Korea announced a state funeral committee for Kim Yang Gon, a senior official who died in a traffic accident on Tuesday (Dec 29).

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has lost his top aide.

A list of people forming Kim Yang Gon’s funeral committee includes Choe Ryong Hae, another close associate of Kim Jong Un who South Korea’s spy agency said last month was banished to a rural collective farm for re-education.

He was part of a high-level delegation from North Korea that helped ease a stand-off with the South in August, after an exchange of artillery fire. “The one who appointed him head of the United Front Department was Kim Jong Il, the dad of the current leader”.

The South Korean government said it had sent a letter of condolence Wednesday to North Korea regarding Kim Yang Gon’s death.

The KCNA said Kim Yang Gon’s exploits will leave a legacy for long. At the summit, Kim was the only official who flanked and assisted the North Korean leader.

Meanwhile, the North’s news agency said Kim will be given a state funeral at 8 a.m. Thursday with Kim Jong-un heading the funeral committee.

And Kim had his powerful uncle Jang Song Thaek executed in December 2012 on charges of treason and corruption, allowing Choe to emerge as his right-hand man. State media have occasionally reported about deadly traffic accidents involving other top officials without elaborating.

“North Korea has a long track record of suspicious deaths around high-level officials”, North Korea expert Andrei Lankov told Reuters.

Yonhap said the partying habits of North Korean elites were also to blame for their disproportionately high rate of fatal traffic accidents, often driving home drunk after exclusive parties.

Kim Yang Gon (73) was a familiar face for negotiators from South Korea who have haggled with the North for years over issues such as its pursuit of nuclear weapons and the two Koreas’ efforts to arrange temporary reunions of relatives separated by the Korean War six decades ago.

But Mr. Klingner also noted that the laudatory language for Kim Yang Gon suggests “an accidental rather than planned death”.

“The Chinese side said it will take stern measures in line with relevant regulations if it detects illegal reporting activities in the future along the border with North Korea”, the official said.