Seoul, May 11 (IANS/EFE) North Korean General Kim Kyok-sik, considered the instigator of attacks on South Korea in 2010 that killed 50 people, has died, reported the Rodong newspaper in Pyongyang on Monday.
The senior military official was suffering from cancer and died of respiratory failure on Sunday, aged 77, said the newspaper in a brief statement.
The military hardliner was defence minister, the highest authority in the North Korean People's Army below that of the leader, from 2007 until 2009.
The South Korean government maintains that in 2010 the senior General orchestrated the sinking of the South Korean navy vessel Cheonan and the bombing of the South Korean island Yeonpyeong, killing 50 people, including two civilians.
In November 2012, Kim was again appointed defence minister, but was replaced just seven months later by the relatively unknown 50-year-old General Jang Jong-nam.
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In 2013, Kim was appointed chief of the general staff of the Korean People's Army, one of the largest armies in the world with more than 1.1 million soldiers.
The sinking of the Cheonan in March 2010 and the bombing of Yeonpyeong in November that year triggered some of the most intense military tensions between the Koreas since the Korean War (1950-53).
Although Pyongyang denies its involvement in the sinking that left 46 sailors dead, Seoul responded with harsh economic sanctions on its Communist neighbour which continue to date.
Both countries remain technically at war since the Korean War ended with an armistice that was never replaced by a final peace treaty.
--IANS/EFE
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