North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent his key aide to a local farm in early November as punishment for the mishandling of a hydraulic power station construction project, South Korea’s state spy agency said Tuesday.
Choe Ryong-hae, the communist party’s secretary, appears to have been receiving re-education at a farm in an unidentified province starting this month due to his responsibility for water leakage from the newly built hydraulic power station, according to the National Intelligence Service.
The NIS told lawmakers that Choe, secretary of the Worker’s Party of Korea, was punished for the problem at the power station near the North’s border with China. It also added that there was a disagreement between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Choe.
Despite the punishment, Choe seems to be able to be reinstated, given the nature of his crime is seen as relatively lighter than that of Jang Song-thaek, who was executed in early 2013.
The agency’s report was later released to the public by a lawmaker after it was reported to lawmakers in a closed session.
Choe’s whereabouts has been under intense media highlight since he was found to have been omitted from a list of a committee that prepared for a state funeral of a North Korean military marshal in early November.
North Korea mobilized many young adults to complete the construction of the power station at the foot of Mount Baekdu, the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula.
The project, launched in 2002, was completed in October to celebrate the North Korean ruling party’s 70th founding anniversary.
Meanwhile, the NIS claimed that 10 local citizens arrested earlier this month have close links to the Islamic State, which has claimed responsibility for the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.
“They were not just praising IS but had close ties with IS,” said Rep. Joo Ho-young of the ruling Saenuri Party, who participated the meeting.
In mid-November, the NIS said in a parliamentary report that there are 10 people who have publicly expressed support for IS.
The suspects allegedly left questions on the Internet, such as how to cross the border into Syria and join the extremist militant group, according to the NIS. (Yonhap)
