May 5, 2010
North denies plot to kill defector
<!-- by line --> <!-- end by line --> SEOUL - NORTH Korea denied on Wednesday it had sent spies to assassinate a top-ranking defector in South Korea and accused Seoul of making up the story to fuel tensions. The communist state's official website Uriminzokkiri said the spy case was a 'ridiculous fabrication' by Seoul's conservative government to justify its tough stance on Pyongyang. Tensions are high after a South Korean warship sank in March with the death of 46 sailors near the disputed inter-Korean border. Suspicions of a North Korean torpedo attack are growing but unproven. South Korean prosecutors said on April 20 that two elite North Korean military officers had tried to kill Hwang Jang Yop after themselves entering South Korea in the guise of defectors.
Prosecutors said the two had been trained as spies since 2004 and received a direct order from the North's main military espionage unit to kill Mr Hwang. Mr Hwang, the architect of the North Korean regime's ideology of 'juche,' or self-reliance, was once secretary of the ruling Workers' Party and a tutor to leader Kim Jong Il. He defected in 1997 during a visit to Beijing, becoming the highest-ranking official to flee the hardline communist state. The 87-year-old now lives under guard at a secret address in South Korea to forestall any attempts by the North to assassinate him. Uriminzokkiri itself on April 5 threatened Mr Hwang with death over his criticism of the Pyongyang regime during trips to the United States and Japan. -- AFP
