What has happened to the former head of North Korea's External Economic Cooperation Promotion Committee, Kim Jung Wu? Rumors abound about his fate including claims that he was executed as he, who took charge of inducing foreign investment into the Rajin-Sonbong Trade Zone since 1992, was last seen in public late in 1997.

Kim Jung Wu, reputedly the "designer of the Rajin-Sonbong zone," is living in a provincial city since he was purged in late 1997 according to South Korean intelligence authorities. His purge came after Kim, ignoring his seniors' instructions, brought a group of prominent South Koreans to nearby Chongjin City seeking possible investment in the trade zone, according to intelligence officials. He has reportedly suffered facial muscle paralysis from psychological problems brought on after having been relieved of his post.

He was last seen in public in October 1997 when he attended a ceremony dedicating the Sungni (victory) Lubricant Factory. He didn't show up at the United Nations Development Program-sponsored Tumen River development conference in November that year.

His possible reinstatement was rumored early last year in conjunction with Kim Jong Il's reported study on expanding external economic cooperation as a means of overcoming the North's economic woes. However, under the current circumstances, say the officials, no one can bet Kim Jung Wu will be reinstated anytime soon.

(Lee Kyo-kwan, haedang@chosun.com )