December 18, 2020 13:32
North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Son-gwon, a hawkish former point man on the U.S. and South Korea, has disappeared from public view since August.
Ri also seems to have lost his position as a "candidate member" of the Politburo.
"We're trying to find out what happened to him," a senior government official here said on Thursday. "He still retains his position as foreign minister."
Ri was not seen when leader Kim Jong-un paid his respects to his late father Kim Jong-il during a ceremony marking Kim senior's ninth death anniversary at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang on Thursday.