Top Aide to North Korea Leader Kim Jong Un Dies in Car Crash: KCNA
By REUTERS

SEOUL — 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 on Wednesday, the latest dramatic demise in the close circle of deputies to the country’s leader.

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 said. It 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 old rivals to one of its highest levels in years.

The talks produced an agreement that ended the standoff, and for the two sides to reopen dialogue to improve ties.

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 militarised border, an official said.

China, North Korea’s main economic and diplomatic backer, 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.

“SUSPICIOUS DEATHS”

Kim Jong Un has dismissed a string of top aides since he took over when his father died suddenly in 2011.

In 2013, he purged and executed his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, who was once considered the second most powerful man in the country, for “anti-revolutionary crimes”.

Impoverished North Korea’s road network is badly maintained and car ownership is rare yet several high-level officials have died in traffic accidents over the years.

In 1976, an official said to be a rival to then-president Kim Il Sung died in a car crash. In 2003, a predecessor to Kim Yang Gon died in a traffic accident and in 2010 top official Ri Je Gang also died in a crash.

“North Korea has a long track record of suspicious deaths around high-level officials,” said North Korea expert Andrei Lankov. “Most die either because they are machine-gunned, or they die in car crashes”.

“There are almost no cars and security for high-officials traveling in cars is extremely tight. Given that, one is bound to be skeptical about any such report coming from North Korea.”

北韓高官車禍多…簡直有陰謀

北韓官方朝中社報導，勞動黨中央委員會書記兼統戰部長金養建29日因車禍逝世，享年73歲。金養建是北韓領導人金正恩的外交智囊，負責對南韓關係，他的去世成為南北韓修睦努力的一項打擊。

朝中社發表訃文，訃文稱金養建是金正恩「最信賴的助手」， 並盛讚他「深受廣大黨員和人民的愛戴和尊敬」。

北韓預定31日為金養建舉行國葬，官方宣布80人國葬治喪委員會名單，由北韓領導人金正恩擔任委員長，一度失勢的勞動黨書記崔龍海與傳遭整肅的統一戰線部副部長袁東淵也列名其中，顯示兩人重返權力核心。

金養建是北韓的三朝元老，今年8月，北韓埋設於非軍事區的地雷炸傷南韓官兵，兩韓互嗆要開戰時，金養建參與談判緩和情勢。2007年南韓總統盧武鉉和北韓前領袖金正日舉行峰會時，金養建也是居中安排的要角。2011年金正日驟逝時，金養建成為繼任者金正恩的心腹，在對南韓與國際關係上扮演首席智囊角色。觀察家甚至認為他有望接替最高人民會議常任委員長金永南，成為第二號人物。

南韓中央日報、美國有線電視新聞網都報導，南韓和美國多位北韓專家認為，金養建的死因令人不解。金養建前一任的勞動黨對南韓事務書記金容淳，2003年6月也是發生車禍，4個月後傷重不治，當時外界即傳說有可能是反對和南韓和解的軍方強硬派暗殺他。包括這2人，北韓近年已有4位部長級高官車禍身亡。

曾在2009年協調北韓釋放兩名美國記者的美國喬治亞大學國際關係教授朴瀚枝說，車禍在北韓非常罕見，金養建和金容淳兩人竟然都死於車禍，「讓我非常疑惑」。

最近幾年北韓的車輛雖增多，但金養建這個層級的高官安全保護相當嚴格，出入時道路都會淨空，除非自己酒駕肇事，否則不太可能發生車禍。南韓國民大學教授蘭克夫說，「當然這些高官喜歡超速，不過你會發現，過去北韓高官出車禍數量實在多到很可疑。」

之前，北韓高官出車禍，國內外均揣測紛紜，懷疑是遭政敵以車禍方式「剷除」。專家認為，金養建很受金正恩寵信，可能引發政敵忌妒對他下手。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2015/12/30/world/asia/30reuters-northkorea-aide.html

2015-11-12．聯合報．A12．兩岸．記者林克倫