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Thursday, June 21, 2007

N. Korea’s top nuclear negotiator earns elite accommodations in 'village of virtue'

North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye-Gwan, has joined a handful of key loyalists allowed to live in the country's elite luxury village in central Pyongyang. It is an apparent reward for the nuclear deal reached with the United States earlier this year.

North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator Kim Kye Gwan has moved into an elite luxury housing development in a sign of his growing influence with leader Kim Jong-Il. AFP/Don Emmert
Kim, a deputy foreign minister who served as the chief delegate to the six-nation nuclear talks, recently moved to Eundokchon, or "village of virtue," which was established by Kim Jong-Il, the Dong-a Ilbo reported newspaper recently reported.

The village, alongside the Taedong River that flows through Pyongyang, has six luxury, five-story buildings housing 30 living units, each featuring six bedrooms, two bathrooms, living room, dining room and storage space.

The village was originally built for nuclear and missile scientists in 1992 under Kim Jong-Il's instructions.

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But it is now used by his close aides, mostly military heavyweights such as Hyon Chol-Hae, deputy chief of the Political Bureau in charge of general affairs; Pak Jae-Gyong, deputy chief of the Political Bureau of the People's Army in charge of propaganda; Ri Myong-Su, operation chief of the army; and Kang Sok-Ju, first vice foreign minister.

The sealed-off villas can be accessed only by elevators which are tightly guarded by security police, the newspaper said. The village has its own generator for heating, cooling and electricity.

North Korea watchers said Kim Kye-Gwan’s move into the village illustrates that he has joined the ranks of Kim Jong-Il's closest associates on the strength of the aid-for-disarmament agreement reached at the six-nation talks in February.

"It appears that Kim Kye-Gwan has won considerable trust from Kim Jong-Il for turning around the relationship with the United States after last year's nuclear test," said Lee Ki-Dong, senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Strategy.

Other sources said Kim's senior, Kang Sok-Ju, has been named a member of the North's powerful National Defense Commission (NDC).

Kim Jong-Il rules in the capacity of the NDC chairman and supreme commander of the People’s Army, whose 1.2-million-strong armed forces, the world's fifth largest, are the backbone of the regime.

The Feb. 13 accord is considered a winning deal in the North, Lee and other analysts say. All the North has to do under the deal is shut down its Yongbyon reactor in return for 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil or equivalent assistance.

The shutdown of the 5-megawatt reactor is not considered a major loss to the North because it already has enough plutonium to make nuclear weapons.

The country also can threaten to turn the reactor back on and reprocess the spent fuel. Analysts say the North gives up very little and leaves all its option open.

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