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WORLD NEWS Saturday 5 January 2019

A look at high-profile defections from North Korea

By KIM TONG-HYUNG member of North Korea's 1997 death of Lee Han-
Associated Press ruling Workers' Party, was young, a nephew of one
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — the chief architect of the of the former wives of Kim
North Korea's top diplomat North's governing "juche" Jong Il, on North Korean
to Italy, who South Korea's ideology of self-reliance agents sent on a revenge
spy agency says has gone and had tutored former mission. But police failed to
into hiding along with his North Korean leader Kim catch the assailants before
wife, appears to be the lat- Jong Il, the late father of they allegedly returned
est member of the North's current ruler Kim Jong Un. to the North. Lee had de-
elite to abandon the secre- Hwang was still one of the fected through Switzerland
tive totalitarian state. country's most powerful in 1982, but Seoul kept his
Many of them have ex- officials when he fled dur- arrival secret until 1996,
pressed frustration over ing a visit to Beijing. After when his mother also fled
what they described as an resettling in South Korea the North. He was a harsh
oppressive police state in in 1997, Hwang became critic of Pyongyang's gov-
Pyongyang or desires for a vocal critic of the North ernment and his dictator
their families to have new Korean leadership he had uncle. Lee died of gunshot
lives in South Korea or the a hand in building, which wounds after being at-
West. led to threats and attempts tacked in front of his apart-
The North, which touts itself on his life Seoul blamed on ment near Seoul in Febru-
as a socialist paradise, is ex- Pyongyang. ary 1997. According to his
tremely sensitive about de- This Feb. 16, 1996, file photo, shows Lee Han-young, a nephew Hwang, then 87, died in neighbors, Lee after the
fections, especially among of one of the former wives of Kim Jong Il, in Seoul, South Korea. 2010 after suffering a heart shooting said, "spy, spy,"
its elite, and has previously Associated Press attack, months after two and held up two fingers,
insisted that they are South North Korean army majors perhaps indicating the
Korean or U.S. plots to un- A look at some of the high- remains as the highest- were sentenced to prison number of attackers. Police
dermine its government. profile defections from ranking North Korean of- in South Korea for plotting said a woman purporting
South Korea has accused North Korea: ficial to defect from the to assassinate him. to be a magazine reporter
the North of killing or at- ___ North and seek asylum in ___ called the apartment to
tempting to assassinate 'JUCHE' ARCHITECT South Korea. ROYAL FAMILY MEMBER ask when Lee would be
past defectors. The late Hwang Jang Yop Hwang, a former senior South Korea blamed the home before the attack.q

Japan's premier: New emperor's era to be announced April 1

By YURI KAGEYAMA tion the rituals surrounding event for prime ministers
Associated Press the new emperor's arrival after they pay a visit to Ise
TOKYO (AP) — Japan's have drawn highlights how Shrine in central Japan.
prime minister confirmed in steeped in tradition Japan The shrine, which bills itself
his New Year's news confer- remains, despite modern- as "the soul of Japan," is
ence that the era name for ization. dedicated to Amaterasu
the new emperor's reign will Akihito's waving earlier Omikami, the sun goddess
be disclosed April 1. this week from the palace of the Shinto religion. More
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe balcony drew a crowd of than 1,500 rituals are car-
said Friday that 2019 will more than 150,000 people, ried out there each year to
mark pivotal times for Ja- a record for Akihito. pray for the imperial family,
pan, repeatedly referring Abe stressed that 2019 will as well as for world peace
to Emperor Akihito's step- be a historic year for Japan, and a plentiful harvest.
ping down. noting the Year of the Boar Abe also expressed hopes
Akihito has chosen to buck in the Asian zodiac heralds Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivers his speech during for better relations with
tradition and abdicate a year of determination. New Year's press conference in Ise, central Japan, Friday, Jan. North Korea, extolled free
while he is alive, citing frail "We hope to mark a strong 4, 2019. trade and reiterated the
health. His son becomes start for the era," he told Associated Press importance of Japan's alli-
emperor May 1. reporters, standing before ance with the U.S.
Era names are important as a golden screen next to a lates to "achieving peace." the day after Emperor Hiro- "Japan will hold up high the
they are needed to deter- curvaceous bonsai pine Abe said the details of how hito died. Akihito is the first flag of free trade," he said.
mine what year it is in the tree. "We will show speed the new name will be an- living emperor to give up He also said Japan will show
traditional Japanese cal- and flexibility like a boar." nounced are still being the throne in two centuries. leadership at the Group of
endar. The era under Akihito is worked out. The New Year's news con- 20 summit that it's hosting
The great public atten- called Heisei, which trans- Hesei started Jan. 8, 1989, ference is a customary for the first time this year.q