Top N.K. military official absent from public eye for 3 weeks

SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- Top North Korean military official Hwang Pyong-so has not been in the public eye for about three weeks without a clear reason, but there is a slim chance that he is facing a change in his status, experts said Tuesday.

Hwang, the 75-year-old director of the general political bureau of the Korean People's Army (KPA), has not shown up at major public events since he delivered a condolatory address at a state funeral for a military marshal in early November, according to sources familiar with North Korean affairs.

The sudden disappearance of North Korean officials from the public eye is usually viewed by outside analysts as being linked to a possible purge or punishment.

Experts said that it is unusual for Hwang to not accompany the North's leader Kim Jong-un on his inspections in recent weeks. But it is unlikely that he may have been disgraced, given his firm position in the North.

"Something particular with Hwang has not been detected," said an official at the Unification Ministry.

Hwang's status in the North is widely seen as relatively stable, as he was recently granted the title of the country's "hero" in recognition of his role in ending South Korea's resumption of an anti-Pyongyang loudspeaker campaign.

Hwang accompanied Kim on so-called field guidance trips more than anyone else this year. His record is followed by Jo Yong-won, a senior official in the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).

"It is not likely that something (disgraceful) would take place for Hwang, given his status in the North," said Ahn Chan-il, the head of the private Seoul-based World Institute for North Korean Studies. "But there is a need to watch the relevant developments."

The North's leader is strengthening his so-called reign of terror by purging or executing scores of military and party officials.

Choe Ryong-hae, a senior secretary of the WPK and a key aide to Kim, appears to have been sent to a rural farm in early November as punishment for his mishandling of a newly built hydroelectric power plant project, according to Seoul's spy agency.

sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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