According to the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo, the former deputy chairman of the Central Committee of the North Korean Labor Party, Choi Hui Chuan, was recently purged for ineffective post-disaster reconstruction, and the Labor Party’s propaganda secretary, Park Tae-sung, whose whereabouts have been unknown for the past two months, is also rumored to have been disciplined. The report said that North Korea is suffering from economic difficulties due to the impact of the new Guan (Chinese Communist virus) epidemic and border blockade, coupled with the U.S. comprehensive sanctions against North Korea and human rights pressure, the leader Kim Jong-un is taking “stimulus therapy” in order to rectify internal discipline.
The report on Sunday (11) quoted a core source in the South Korean government as saying that spies from multiple sources had learned that Choi Hui had retained the post of party minister for some time and “recently got out completely”. He carried out reconstruction work after the floods in Hamgyong Province in September last year, but failed to achieve significant results, leading to a decline in status, and was even rumored to have been executed, but the information was not confirmed.
The South Korean intelligence service is also concerned about the movement of Park Tae-sung, who has been absent from the city and county responsible secretaries’ workshop chaired by Kim Jong-un last month, and the party branch secretary’s conference held last week. The two conferences were specially prepared to spread Kim Jong-un’s message to local and grassroots cadres, and Park Tae-sung, the head of the competent department, should be present, the sources said.
Choi Hui, 67, the son of former construction minister Choi Jae-ha, a prominent member of the Kim Il-sung era, is familiar with the party’s propaganda and labor group aspects. He visited South Korea in February 2018 as a member of the top North Korean delegation to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and has since been promoted for a time to a member of the Politburo, which is only elected in the top 20 of the Labor Party’s power ranking. As for the party’s organizational guidance, Park Tae-sung, 66, a senior member familiar with the party’s work, has not been seen in public since his visit to the Sun Palace at Mount Kumsu on Feb. 16 this year to celebrate Kim Jong-il’s birthday.
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