 |
| Ri Yong Gil |
A former North Korean military
chief who Seoul had said was executed is actually alive and in possession of
several new senior-level posts, the North's state media said Tuesday.
Ri, who was considered one of
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's most trusted aides, missed two key national
meetings in February. Seoul intelligence officials later said that Kim had him
executed for corruption and other charges.
The news on Ri Yong Gil marks
yet another blunder for South Korean intelligence officials, who have often
gotten information wrong in tracking developments with their rival. It also
points to the difficulties that even professional spies have in figuring out
what's going on in one of the world's most closed governments.