More than one South Korean media outlet today claimed that the director of the General Bureau of Reconnaissance, Kim Young Cheol was the puppet master behind the recent exposure of secret talks between North and South.
Citing diplomatic sources, they assert that Kim is fearful of becoming a scapegoat for the regime at a time when inter-Korean relations are moving onto a better footing, and for this reason he decided to hinder talks.
Kim is also said to have been the person behind the Cheonan sinking and Yeonpyeong Island shelling, a hacking attack on the computer systems of Nonghyup and several other more minor threats towards South Korea. He is subject to a travel ban under U.S. Treasury sanctions.
One previous example Kim may have been fearful of following is that of the director of the National Security Ministry, Kim Chang Bong, and the director of the General Political Department Heo Bong Hak, who planned the attack on the Blue House in January, 1968, but who were purged in advance of the July 4 Joint Statement in 1972 as a reconciliatory gesture for South Korea.
According to governmental sources, Kim Young Cheol is one of the closest associates of Kim Jong Eun. Among cadres, the rumor is that Kim feels that he helped to raise the successor.
However, cadres from the North Korean Foreign Ministry, United Front Department and other propaganda organs apparently see Kim as a barrier to progress, claiming that if he were to retire, North Korea could develop. Kim Young Cheol, they say, “just does things for show, to seize power.”
South Korean intelligence authorities are apparently aware of the suggestion that the likelihood of a terror attack led by Kim Young Cheol could rise considerably were inter-Korean talks to be held.
