Tag: Jang Song-taek

It will be interesting to see if there is any North Korean reaction to this latest news from Woodward’s book:

The headless body of Kim Jong Un’s executed uncle was displayed to senior North Korean officials, US President Donald Trump told the author of an upcoming book on the US president.

Jang Song Thaek, the North Korean leader’s uncle by marriage and a hugely powerful figure within the regime, was purged for treason and corruption in 2013, in what was widely seen as Kim mercilessly asserting his authority.

Kim “tells me everything. Told me everything,” Trump told the Washington Post investigative journalist Bob Woodward, according to his forthcoming book “Rage”.

“He killed his uncle and he put the body right in the steps,” Trump said, in an apparent reference to a building used by senior officials.

“And the head was cut, sitting on the chest,” he added in excerpts from the book seen by AFP.

AFP

You can read more at the link, but with many stories from North Korea who knows how true they really are.

I have always said that Kim Jong-un is not an absolute dictator and instead rules with the consensus of an inner regime circle.  The below article tends to confirm this hypothesis.  Jang Song-taek may have been trying  overly grow his power base above what other inner regime circle types were comfortable with:

The motives behind the highly publicized execution of Jang Sung Taek, the uncle of current North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, have been open to question, but a South Korean analyst said Jang’s ambition to restore an old power structure could have played a role in his death sentence.

Ko Soo-suk, a senior researcher at the Unification Research Institute of JoongAng Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper, wrote Jang was seeking the role of prime minister in the North Korean Cabinet.  (………………)

 

Jang, who was a prominent figure under former leader Kim Jong Il, often traveled to China and even to South Korea to learn about economic policy and planning. Jang has often been associated with economic reform, but in December 2013 was executed on charges of treason and of being a “counterrevolutionary.”

The prime minister position Jang could have had in mind was the more influential version in place under North Korea founder Kim Il Sung. Prime ministers under the late Kim were in charge of economic policy and Jang would have been well-suited for a bigger role involving growth and development.

Ko also stated in his analysis that members of North Korea’s core leadership, rather than Kim Jong Un, could have thwarted Jang’s ambition. Core leadership officials foiled attempts by Jang to procure a meeting with Kim, who was away on a field guidance trip at a critical time. While Kim was away, Ko wrote, core members could have been able to enforce an order of execution for Jang.  [UPI]

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the North Koreans are still up to their old ways by kidnapping people in foreign countries:

A North Korean college student in Paris has been missing for more than two weeks, sources here said Wednesday, amid speculation that agents from the North are attempting to forcibly take him back to the communist nation.

The student, only identified by his surname Han, is a son of an aide to Jang Song-thaek, the once powerful uncle of the North’s leader Kim Jong-un. Jang was executed in December last year on treason charges.

Han’s father is known to have been purged recently as part of the Kim regime’s continued work to clear the remnants of the Jang era.

A senior official at Han’s school told Yonhap News Agency that, “I asked other students and faculty members about Han’s whereabouts but nobody has seen him at least for the past 15 days.”

Local police came to the school last week in search of Han, added the official.

A source said Han had been picked up by North Korean agents dispatched to Paris.

He dramatically escaped while being taken to an airport and he is now staying at a certain location, the source said.

If confirmed true, the case could cause a diplomatic rift between North Korea and France.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but I really hope the French government takes a harsh stance against this type of activity in their country by foreign agents.