Choe Deok-geun

Choe Deok-geun (also spelled Choi Duck-keun or Choi Duk-gun; born 1951 or 1952; died 1 October 1996 in Vladivostok, Primorsky Krai, Russia) was a South Korean consular official for the Russian Far East who was assassinated by poison in October 1996.[1][2]

Choe Deok-geun
In this Korean name, the family name is Choe.
Choe Deok-geun
Hangul
최덕근
Hanja
Revised RomanizationChoe Deok-geun
McCune–ReischauerCh'oe Tŏk'gŭn

Assassination

Though the official cause of Choe's death was listed as bludgeoning, he had two pencil-sized holes on his torso which suggested injection of a foreign substance into his body. When his corpse was discovered, he still had $1,200 cash in his pocket.[3] It emerged soon after that he had poison in his bloodstream of the same type as that carried by a North Korean submarine which had infiltrated South Korean waters and landed near Gangneung, Gangwon the previous month; North Korea had threatened to retaliate for the killings of their special forces agents by the South Korean Army.[4] North Korea denied all involvement and accused the South of fabricating evidence in order to frame the North.[5] Some news reports at the time suggested that the North Koreans had hired a Russian Mafia hitman to actually carry out the murder.[6]

Aftermath

As a result of his death, South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade allegedly instructed their personnel to refrain from contacting with or providing assistance to North Koreans in Russia, even refugees, for fear that they too could be murdered.[7] Some analysts believe that the North Korean government chose to delay announcing their 24 August arrest and detention of American citizen Evan Hunziker until around the time of Choe's murder in an attempt to divert attention.[8]

References
  1. Bu, Hyeong-gwon (2004-09-21), "盧-푸틴 정상회담: 한-러 '외교 악연' 이젠 끊길까/Roh-Putin Ministerial Meeting: Stopping the decline of Korea-Russia relations?", Donga Ilbo, retrieved 2007-06-01
  2. Yi, Su-hyeong (December 1996), "'최영사 피살'범인은 역시 북한？/North Korea was the criminal in the "Choe Deok-gun murder"?", Donga Ilbo Magazine, retrieved 2007-06-01 (States that Choi was 44 at the time of his death)
  3. Bertil, Lintner (2002), Blood Brothers: Crime, Business, and Politics in Asia, Allen and Unwin, pp. 213–214, ISBN 1-86508-419-0
  4. Dies, Harry P., Jr. (October–December 2004), "North Korean Special Operations Forces: 1996 Kangnung submarine infiltration", Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin, retrieved 2007-06-01
  5. "North Korea denies murdering diplomat", CNN, 1996-10-04, retrieved 2007-06-01
  6. Jeong, Hoe-sang (1996-10-17), "최덕근 영사, 러시아 마피아가 살해했다?/Consul Choe Deok-geun, killed by the Russian Mafia?", Sisa Journal, retrieved 2007-06-01
  7. "North Korean refugees in Trouble", The Chosun Ilbo, 1999-12-13, archived from the original on 2005-02-09, retrieved 2007-06-01
  8. Efron, Sonni (1996-10-08), "North's Arrest of American Deepens Freeze in Korea", Los Angeles Times, retrieved 2009-06-08
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