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Top aide of N. Korean leader dies in car crash
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A SENIOR North Korean ruling party official and a top aide to leader Kim Jong Un has died in a car accident, the state news agency reported yesterday.
Kim Yang Gon, who was a secretary of the Workers’ Party and the head of its United Front Department, the unit that handles ties with South Korea, was Kim Jong Un’s “closest comrade, a solid revolutionary partner,” the KCNA news agency said.
Kim died on Tuesday in an automobile accident at the age of 73. The agency gave no details of the accident.
Kim was part of a high-level delegation that held talks in August after North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire, raising tension between the rivals to one of its highest levels in years. The talks produced an agreement that ended the standoff.
Experienced adviser
Kim had appeared to grow closer to Kim Jong Un recently, accompanying the young leader at various farm and factory inspections and diplomatic meetings. He was an experienced adviser with a broad understanding of foreign affairs, according to Michael Madden, an expert on North Korea’s leadership.
“With regard to South Korean policy, Kim Yang Gon had a very good social network and was a good interlocutor for the North with the South,” Madden said.
South Korea expressed condolences in a message from its Unification Minister sent through the Panmunjom truce village on the militarized border.
China expressed its condolences too, saying Kim had made positive achievements in promoting relations.
“Comrade Kim Yang Gon dedicated himself for a long time to the development of Sino-North Korea ties,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters in Beijing.
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