So Kwan-hui
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl
서관희
Hancha
徐寬熙
Revised RomanizationSeo Gwanhui
McCune–ReischauerSŏ Kwanhŭi

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]

References

  1. ^ a b Floru, J.P. (2017). The Sun Tyrant: A Nightmare Called North Korea. London, U.K.: Biteback Publishing. p. 21. ISBN 9781785902215. OCLC 984074543. When the size of the catastrophe he had caused became apparent, Kim Jong-il had his agricultural minister So Kwan-hui executed by firing squad. So was accused of being a spy for 'the American imperialists and their South Korean lackeys' and of having sabotaged North Korea's self-reliance in agriculture.
  2. ^ a b c Reese, David (2020-11-25). The Prospects for North Korea Survival. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-05956-8.
  3. ^ a b c Jong-yil, Ra (2019-05-01). Inside North Korea's Theocracy: The Rise and Sudden Fall of Jang Song-thaek. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-7373-4.
  4. ^ Choe, Sang-hun (March 18, 2010). "N. Korea Is Said to Execute Finance Chief". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 14, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2017. North Korea publicly executed Seo Gwan-hee, a party secretary in charge of agriculture, on spying charges in 1997 when a famine decimated the population, according to defectors.
  5. ^ Gause, Ken E. (2006). "NORTH KOREAN CIVIL-MILITARY TRENDS: MILITARY-FIRST POLITICS TO A POINT". Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College. ((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)


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