South Korean newspaper with spotty history of accuracy on North Korea says Kim has killed envoys out of frustration over collapsed U. S. talks
Seoul, South Korea — A South Korean newspaper reported Friday that North Korea executed a senior envoy involved in nuclear negotiations with the U. S. as well as four other high-level officials. But as ever with North Korea, a country that closely guards its secrets, there are reasons to be cautious about the purported purge.
While North Korea hasn’t used its propaganda services to comment, the report in the conservative Chosun Ilbo daily could be true. North Korea has previously executed scapegoats to atone for high-profile political flops, and the most recent summit between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump ended in failure, leaving Kim embarrassed on the world stage.
But it’s important to note that both South Korean media and the government in Seoul have a history of reporting scoops about the inner workings of North Korea that turn out to be wrong. Supposedly executed officials have later appeared trotting alongside Kim on state TV after their reported demise.
Friday’s report is based on a single, unidentified “source who knows about North Korea” – with no details about where that source got their information. The report so far hasn’t been matched by any major media in Seoul or confirmed by government officials, even anonymously.
The newspaper’s source said that senior envoy Kim Hyok Chol was executed at the Mirim airfield with four other officials from the North’s Foreign Ministry for betraying Kim Jong Un after being won over by the U. S. Kim Hyok Chol led working-level negotiations as North Korea’s special representative for U. S. affairs ahead of February’s summit between the U. S. and North Korean leaders in Hanoi.
The source also said that Kim Yong Chol, who had worked as North Korea’s top nuclear negotiator and met with Mr. Trump at the White House while setting up the summits, was sentenced to hard labor and ideological re-education.
A North Korea expert who has experience negotiating with the country for the U.
