Ju Kyu Chang, developer of North Korea missiles and nuclear weapons, dies at 89
His official state obituary described him as ‘an elder revolutionary who made a distinguished contribution to the strengthening of the country’s defence capabilities’
A veteran North Korean official who was sanctioned for his suspected role in development of the country’s nuclear and missile technology has died, the North announced on Tuesday.
The state-run KCNA news agency said “academician and professor” Ju Kyu Chang died on Monday at the age of 89 from “pancytopenia”, a blood disease.
It said the official state obituary described Ju as “an elder revolutionary who made (a) distinguished contribution to the strengthening of the country’s defence capabilities”.
Ju was a former minister of the defence ministry, which was in charge of developing the country’s nuclear weapons and missiles.
He was one of a number of individual North Koreans slapped with non-proliferation sanctions in 2013 by the US treasury department for their role in the nuclear programme.
Ju oversaw the launch of North Korea’s Unha-2 long-range rocket in 2009, which he watched alongside then leader Kim Jong-il, Yonhap news agency said.