Won Tong-yon, a senior North Korean official with years of experience in inter-Korean relations, has disappeared from public view since last December, around the time of the publication of a memoir by former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak that mentioned a mission he was on. (…)

Won, who also led a delegation for high-level talks with South Korea in Kaesong in February 2014, is known for his dovish stance with Seoul.