Hwang Jang-yop dies at 87; highest-ranking North Korean official to defect

Hwang Jang-yop, the highest-ranking North Korean official to defect from the isolationist regime, was found dead from a suspected heart attack here Sunday — his death from apparent natural causes coming after numerous assassination attempts by Pyongyang, officials here said. He was 87.

For more than a decade after his defection in 1997, Hwang was North Korea’s public enemy No. 1, repeatedly referred to as “human scum” in the regime’s state-controlled media.

Hwang, a former senior member of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party who taught ideology to leader Kim Jong Il, was known as the chief architect of North Korea’s guiding “juche” philosophy of self-reliance.

He graduated from Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung University and studied in Moscow in 1949. Hwang was one of the country’s most powerful officials when he fled during a visit to Beijing, and his vocal criticism led to numerous threats and attempts on his life by Pyongyang.

In December 2006, Hwang received a package with a picture of him sprayed with red paint and a hatchet. Last April, South Korean authorities arrested two North Korean spies reportedly sent to kill Hwang. They both received 10-year prison sentences.

North Korea denied making any assassination attempts, accusing South Korea of staging it to intensify anti-Pyongyang sentiment.

Hwang’s death came on the same day that his archenemy, North Korea, held a massive military parade to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party. Kim Jong Il and his son, heir apparent Kim Jong Eun, appeared together at the parade broadcast live on North Korean state television.

Police in Seoul said that although there appeared to be no evidence of foul play, the coincidence of the death meant they would perform an autopsy.

Hwang’s body was found by a security guard at his home in Seoul, where he lived under police protection as he continued to write books and deliver speeches condemning Kim’s government as authoritarian.

“His sudden death is a surprise,” said a former South Korean intelligence official who met Hwang last week, and who asked not to be named. “His voice was a little frail, but he spoke with great clarity and intelligence.

“Hwang Jang-yop was a symbol of the tragic divide between South and North Korea. It’s hard to imagine the torment he likely felt inside. After defecting, he gave numerous speeches on the harsh reality of North Korea, which was not overlooked by Pyongyang.

“Despite his strong outward appearance,” he said, “it must have taken a toll on him living in such a constant state of tension.”

john.glionna@latimes.com

Kim is a researcher in The Times’ Seoul bureau.