So Kwan-hui
North Korean politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
So Kwan-hui (1926–1997) was a North Korean politician. He served as the North Korean Minister of Agriculture.[1]
After initially disappearing in May 1996,[2] he was accused in 1997 of spying for the United States government and sabotaging North Korean agriculture on purpose, leading to the North Korean famine.[1] He was also accused of embezzling funds, originally intended for fertilizer, which had been given by Kim Jong Il, as well as of having been a counter-revolutionary South Korean spy from the very beginning who stayed behind in the north to infiltrate the Workers' Party.[3] As a result, he was executed by firing squad publicly by the North Korean government.[3][4]
An unidentified defector once claimed that some officials of the Socialist Youth League were executed around the same time, reportedly for "corrupt financial dealings" with South Korean intelligence agents.[2] This was followed by a later purge of several other high government officials, also accused of being South Korean collaborators as well.[2][3]
It has been speculated that Kim Chol-man replaced his position regarding the agriculture portfolio.[5]
