spy agency-ex-NK minister
S. Korea's spy agency confirms former N. Korean foreign minister Ri Yong-ho was purged
SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's spy agency confirmed Thursday former North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho was purged, but it remains unclear whether he was executed.
The confirmation came after Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported Wednesday Ri appears to have been executed last year, citing multiple unnamed sources.
Ri, who was appointed as the North's top diplomat in 2016, played a key role in negotiations with the U.S. for the 2018 and 2019 summits between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and then U.S. President Donald Trump. The Hanoi summit in early 2019 ended with no deal. Ri is known to have left office in 2020.
The spy agency also said it cannot rule out the possibility of five North Korean drones that infiltrated South Korean airspace recently filmed the presidential office in Seoul.
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