N. Korea sacks pointman on S. Korea for misjudging Seoul gov't: sources

By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has dismissed its pointman on South Korea
for misjudging Seoul's conservative administration, government sources said
Monday.

Choe Sung-chol, vice chairman of the Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, a North Korean
state organization handling inter-Korean affairs under the Workers' Party, was
dismissed in early 2008. It is not yet clear who has succeeded him, the sources
said, requesting anonymity.
Seoul's Unification Ministry acknowledged Choe's reported dismissal but could not
confirm it.
"I've heard it many times. But to be able to officially confirm it, I would have
to have the facts," the ministry spokesman, Kim Ho-nyoun, told reporters.
North Korea reportedly conducted the reshuffle as inter-Korean relations began to
slide towards a stalemate. The communist state blamed Choe for not accurately
assessing South Korea's Lee Myung-bak government, according to the sources.
Pyongyang had suspended its usual anti-South Korea rhetoric until March in 2008,
apparently waiting for Lee to implement summit agreements reached between his
liberal predecessors -- Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun -- and North Korean leader
Kim jong-il.
Contrary to those expectations, Lee pushed aside the summit agreements -- mostly
costly projects to modernize North Korea's economy -- and instead took a hardline
stance towards Pyongyang. He demanded that North Korea abandon its nuclear
weapons program and improve its human rights conditions.
In April, North Korea launched an acerbic media offensive against Seoul, calling
Lee "a traitor" and "a pro-U.S. sycophant." Pyongyang also cut off inter-Korean
dialogue.
Choe, the reportedly dismissed official, is known to have played a central role
in arranging the second inter-Korean summit in 2007. Some suspect his absence
from the Workers' Party will give the hardline military unchecked authority in
dealing with Seoul.
A major South Korean newspaper, the JoongAng Ilbo, said Choe was succeeded by Yu
Yong-son, head of the Buddhists Federation of North Korea.
A member of a South Korean Buddhist organization that met with its North Korean
counterpart in September and October told Yonhap News Agency that Yu was not
present at those meetings, a possible sign that he had been moved to Choe's
position.
Yu attended the 2007 inter-Korean summit as the head of the North Korean
delegation over religious exchanges.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)