Special to WorldTribune.com

By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com

SEOUL — The fate of Ri Su-Yong, former North Korean ambassador to Switzerland, is crucial to the future of tens of thousands of associates of Jang Song-Thaek who was purged and executed recently, sources and analysts here said.

Ri, a deputy head of a Worker’s Party department, served as ambassador to Geneva under the name of Ri Chol when North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un was studying in Switzerland.

Staying in Switzerland since 1988, he has long handled secret funds for Kim’s late father Kim Jong-Il and his royal family. Ri returned to Pyongyang in 2010 to make sure senior Kim’s secret accounts overseas were safely handed over to his son and successor.

“If Ri was killed, Kim Jong-Un may lose money hidden in overseas accounts,” said An Chan-Il, defector-turned-scholar who heads the World Institute for North Korea Studies in Seoul.

An and other analysts say Kim cannot fully remove Jang’s associates because they are actually running the country, holding key posts in the party, the Cabinet and the military.

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  Fate of Kim Jong-Un’s wife, Jang Song-Thaek, Kim Jong-Un, Ri Sol-Ju, Ri Su-Yong, top officials in question after N. Korean purge