[imText1]A helicopter containing North Korea’s Minister of Commerce Kim Bong Cheol and gifts to be given away for Kim Jong Il’s birthday has crashed, killing five people.
An inside source revealed the news this morning, saying, “On the 14th a helicopter carrying special holiday gifts to Sundo for the General’s birthday crashed, resulting in the deaths of five people including the cabinet commerce minister, commercial director of North Pyongan Province and cabinet officials.”
The authorities were apparently intending to deliver gifts to the remote island’s residents and broadcast footage of the event so as to propagate the notion of Kim Jong Eun’s kindness and generosity.
However, the source continued, “As the helicopter was landing its tail hit a rock and it crashed. The pilot and television film crew managed to escape but Minister Kim Bong Cheol could not escape and died when the helicopter exploded.”
“The Central Party has said that it will hold official funeral services for them today or tomorrow as persons who died in the line of duty, but it is not clear yet. They might delay that to avoid ruining the festive atmosphere”.
“People find it ironic that because of the dead General’s birthday they would delay the funeral of people who were alive,” he added.
The small island is located 40km north of the larger Taehwa Island, part of Cheolsan County in North Pyongan Province, only a short distance from China.
