North Korea says top official killed in car crash

Kim Yang Gon, head of the United Front Department at the reclusive nation’s ruling communist Staff’ Party bash, died Tues. morning, the Korean Central News source Agency reported.

One of Kim Jong-un’s top aides has died in a vehicle crash, according to state-run media.

North Korean spy chief Kim Yang Gon gets in a vehicle upon his arrival at the transit office near the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas in Paju, north of Seoul, in this file picture taken November 29, 2007.

“Seriously, how heavy is traffic [in] downtown Pyongyang?” said Greg Scarlatoiu, executive director of the Washington-based Committee for Human Rights in North Korea.

Regardless of the circumstances of Kim Yang Gon’s death, his absence could disrupt the dialogue between Pyongyang and Seoul, said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior researcher with the Sejong Institute, a South Korean think tank.

The reversals of fortune, along with two similar cases earlier this year, have prompted suggestions the leader may be rolling back a purge.

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.

He served three generations of the Kim dynasty that has ruled the North for more than six decades with an iron fist and no tolerance for dissent.

Mr Gon was thought to be one of Kim Jong Un’s trusted officials, frequently accompanying the leader during routine visits to army units and factories.

Hong Yong-pyo, South Korea’s minister of unification, sent official condolences on Wednesday.

“The likelihood of North Korea’s fourth nuclear test is not so high in light of the increasing security cooperation between the South, the US and Japan, and the resulting additional worldwide sanctions”.

Analysts in Seoul say strained ties between the rival Koreas could continue following the unexpected death of Kim, who had long handled relations with South Korea. “Kim Yang-gon was not known for having a particular position on what he did”.

President Park Geun-hye, under mounting pressure to create a legacy in inter-Korean policy, could soften her line and make a concession on the tour program and lift bilateral sanctions imposed after the North’s 2010 attacks on the South’s corvette and the border island of Yeonpyeongdo.

“This is going to deliver negative impacts on inter-Korean relations”, said Professor Yang. KCNA did not say who would replace him.