AKIPRESS.COM - Kim Yang Gon, a high-ranking North Korean official tasked with easing the fractious relationship with South Korea, has died in an automobile accident, the state-run KCNA news agency said.

The North Korean media outlet on Wednesday provided no further details on the death of Kim, 73, a top aide to leader Kim Jong Un, CNN reports. 

Kim, a veteran of negotiations with South Korea since the late Kim Jong Il was in charge, was best known for his role at the negotiation table in August as tensions rose yet again between the two countries.

Kim and Hwang Pyong So, the reclusive regime's leader's deputy and political director of North Korea's army, attended high-level talks inside the Demilitarized Zone. Analysts suggested at the time that the attendance of such high-ranking officials might signal that the North really wanted serious wide-ranging negotiations. Relations between the two neighbors, who are technically still at war, ebb and flow.

Kim was the head of the United Front Department and responsible for dealings with the South.

He was known for his diplomatic activities, including his visit to Russia in 2014, a trip that sparked speculation among some experts that North Korea was turning away from China to Russia for support.

KCNA characterized Kim as a "loyal warrior" and one of the "closest comrades and trustworthiest revolutionary comrades" of Kim Jong Un.