N. Korea`s No. 2 man seen reinstated for possible dealing with China

N. Korea`s No. 2 man seen reinstated for possible dealing with China. January. 16, 2016 09:50. zeitung@donga.com.

Choe Ryong Hae, a close aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, made his first public appearance Thursday in over two months after he was reportedly sent to a rural farm for punishment. Attention is drawn to the fact that he reappeared after the North`s fourth nuclear test, sparking speculation that Kim could have Choe play the role of a special envoy for appeasing China, which is showing signs of sanctioning Pyongyang.

Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the North`s ruling Workers` Party of Korea, reported on the front page of the Friday edition that Choe, a party secretary, delivered a speech on Thursday at an event to celebrate the 70th founding anniversary of the Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League, a North Korean youth organization. The report indicates Choe`s reinstatement to his previous position of a party secretary in charge of workers` organizations. "It seems that he has been reinstated after a demotion and a self-reflection process," said an official at the South Korean government. The event that Choe attended involves a workers` organization handling youth affairs.

Choe visited China as the North Korean leader`s special envoy in May 2013 when he was serving as director of the North Korean military`s General Political Department, conveying Pyongyang`s will to return to the six-party denuclearization talks at a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. After Choe`s visit, Beijing gradually lowered the level of its sanctions on the North. He also visited Beijing as a special envoy in September last year to attend China`s World War II victory day events.

If China strengthens its sanctions on the North following the fourth nuclear test, it is possible that Kim Jong Un put Choe in charge of persuading Beijing in an attempt to change the situation. Some observers say that Choe could fill the vacuum of Kim Yang Gon, a senior North Korean official who suddenly died in December.