United Front Department Head Kim Yang Gon Dead in Pyongyang Car Crash

Summary: Kim Yang Gon, United Front Department head, is dead in a traffic accident after years of commuting between Pyongyang, North Korea, and Seoul, South Korea.

Kim Yang Gon (second right) at Incheon Asian Games 2014 closing ceremony, Oct. 4, 2014; official photograph of the Republic of Korea; Jeon Han, official photographer: Republic of Korea (KOREA.NET), CC BY SA 2.0 (news organizations), via Flickr

An early morning traffic accident accounts for the sudden death of 73-year-old United Front Department head Kim Yang Gon, according to an announcement by the North Korean state media agency in Pyongyang.

The Korean Central News Agency brings news of the diplomat’s demise through pre-existing agreements between the peninsula’s two governments to share news pertinent to both countries. The state media agency release from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea contains few details other than the date and the time of the traffic incident. It describes the occurrence at 6:15 a.m. Korea Standard Time Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015 (9:45 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time Monday, Dec. 28, 2015). It expresses praise for the departed’s accomplishments.

Officials in South Korea and in the United States find Kim Yang Gon a familiar face and name for handling North Korea’s relations with the South. The death notice gives to the South Pyongan Province native honors as the “closest comrade-in-arms and steadfast revolutionary comrade” of Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s leader. Newspapermen at the 80-member state funeral Thursday, Dec. 31, 2015, have photos of funeral committee leader Kim Jong Un gazing emotionally at the open casket. Funeral committee lists include Choe Ryong Hae, lieutenant to Kim Jong Un and son of Choe Hyon, defense minister to Kim Jong Un’s grandfather Kim Il-Sung. Analysts of peninsular politico-economic dynamics judge funeral committee membership indicative of rising status.

Specialists on North Korea’s political economy know of Choe Ryong Hae as a name that cannot be found on funeral committee membership lists for November 2015. The omission leads information-collectors and intelligence-gatherers to consider November 2015 as a month of purging and of sending Choe Ryong Hae to the countryside for re-education. It also makes them consider December 2015 as a month of return to governmental favor and of reversal of previously fallen status for Choe Ryong Hae. Analysts note the need for a new hire to fill the position opened by Kim Yang Gon’s death since improved or worsened relations have economic consequences. Family reunions and reinstated tourism projects offer North Korea opportunities for revenue in-flows.

Analysts point to inter-Korea meetings in December 2015 regarding de-escalation of tensions heightened in August 2015 by the explosion of a mine in the Demilitarized Zone. Officials in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and in the Republic of Korea qualify the meetings as failures whose contradictory causes derive from conflicting accounts. But Hong Yong-pyo, Minister of Unification in South Korea, recalls Kim Yang Gon’s efforts to achieve “a meaningful agreement” worthy of warranting a message of condolences.

Greg Scarlatoiu, executive director of Washington, D.C.’s Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, suspects punishment for failure: “Seriously, how heavy is traffic [in] downtown Pyongyang?”

Bruce Klingner of D.C.’s Heritage Foundation thinks media-released eulogies mourn "accidental . . . death."

Kim Yang Gon, April 24, 1942-Dec. 29, 2015: Reuters Top News @Reuters via Twitter Dec. 31, 2015

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Kim Yang Gon: Republic of Korea (KOREA.NET), CC BY SA 2.0 (news organizations), via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/koreanet/15434329021/

King Yang Gon, April 24, 1942-Dec. 29, 2015: Reuters Top News @Reuters via Twitter tweet of Dec. 31, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/682496520659308544

For further information:

Cheng, Jonathan. 30 December 2015. “North Korean Official’s Death Raises Suspicion.” The Wall Street Journal > World > Asia.
Available @ http://www.wsj.com/articles/north-koreas-top-official-on-south-korea-relations-dies-in-car-accident-1451445874

Kim, Hyung-Jin. 30 December 2015. “North Korean State Media Say Top Official for South Korea Relations Dies in Car Accident.” U.S. News & World Report > News > World.
Available @ http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015-12-30/n-korea-says-top-official-on-s-korea-dies-in-car-accident

“North Korea Says Top Aide to Leader Kim Dies in Car Crash.” Today Online > World > Dec. 30, 2015. Updated Dec. 31, 2015.
Available @ http://www.todayonline.com/world/top-aide-north-korea-leader-kim-jong-un-dies-car-crash-kcna?page=1

“North Korea Says Top Official Kim Yang-gon Killed in Car Crash.” BBC News > World > Asia > China > 30 December 2015.
Available @ http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35196624

Patidar, Som. 30 December 2015. “Kim Jong-un: North Korean Leader’s ‘Closest Comrade’ and ‘Solid Revolutionary Partner’ Kim Yang-gon Dies in Car Crash (BREAKING).” Headlines & Global News > World.
Available @ http://www.hngn.com/articles/164891/20151230/kim-jong-un-north-korean-leaders-closest-comrade-solid-revolutionary.htm

Reuters Top News @Reuters. 31 December 2015. "North Korea says top aide to leader Kim dies in car crash." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/682496520659308544

wochit News. 29 December 2015. "North Korean Top Aid Dies In Car Crash." YouTube.
Available @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukCQ2gQWOc4