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n late 2013, Jang Song-thaek, an uncle of Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, was taken to the Gang Gun Military Academy in a Pyongyang suburb. Hundreds of officials were gathered there to witness the execution of Mr. Jang’s two trusted deputies in the administrative department of the ruling Workers’ Party. The two men, Ri Ryong-ha and Jang Su-gil, were torn apart by antiaircraft machine guns, according to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service. The executioners then incinerated their bodies with flamethrowers. SNIP In his memoir, a Japanese sushi chef for Kim Jong-il from 1988 to 2001 who goes by the...

/begin my excerpts [Between Seoul and Pyongyang: by Ju Sung-ha] Details on the Attempted Assassination of Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang 2014-11-04 03:00:00 A picture on Nov. 3,2012, the day of assassination attempt. Everybody is laughing, following Kim Jong-un, but only Jang Song-thaek (on the left of Kim) is not, holding his hands back and staring forward. From N. Korea’s Central TV.Attempt on Kim Jong-un’s life occurred in Pyongyang, two years ago, on Nov. 3, 2012 Kim Jong-un’s schedule on the day included the tour of Ryu-kyong-won, a multipurpose recreation facility, people’s outdoor skating rinks, and roller-skating rinks, which were nearing...

The purge of Jang Song Thaek associates has reportedly continued with the execution of a senior Central Administrative Department official in North Korea’s ruling party, a Japanese news agency reported Tuesday. Choe Byung Hee, a division chief at the Central Administrative Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea, has been shot to death following the execution of Jang Song Thaek’s associates Ri Yong Ha and Jang Soo Kil from the same department, the Asia Press agency reported, quoting a local government official in the northern Ryanggang province of North Korea.

Competition between North Korean Elites over Jang’s Treasure Following the sudden arrest and execution of Jang Song Taek as a result of a bloody fight among North Korea’s leadership over rights and interests, North Korean elites are now climbing over each other to pledge their allegiance to Kim Jong Un as they compete to grab Jang’s secret funds, foreign currency stashes and control over organizations tasked with earning foreign currency, according to a NKIS source in Sinuiju. Kim Jong Un is said to have benefited the most from Jang’s purge because he has become the sole recipient of a one...

Yonhap News Agency January 27, 2014 9:00am With Jang executed, 'internal unrest' possible in N. Korea: CRS By Lee Chi-dong WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- Uncertainty about North Korea's regime has grown since the downfall of Jang Song-thaek, who was the country's second most powerful figure, a U.S. congressional think tank said. Jang's demise in December indicates the "boldness" of young ruler Kim Jong-un, which could lead to more provocative and unpredictable actions in the future, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). "The chilling effect on the elite in Pyongyang could lead to internal unrest as those who considered...

All relatives of Jang executed too: sources 2014/01/26 10:37 SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- All relatives of the executed uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, including children and the country's ambassadors to Cuba and Malaysia, have also been put to death at the leader's instruction, multiple sources said Sunday. Jang Song-thaek, the once-powerful uncle, was executed last month on charges of attempting to overthrow the communist regime, including contemplating a military-backed coup. All direct relatives of Jang have also been executed, the sources said. "Extensive executions have been carried out for relatives of Jang Song-thaek," one source said on...

Kim Jong Un boasted Wednesday that North Korea enters the new year on a surge of strength because of the elimination of “factionalist filth”—a reference to the young leader’s once powerful uncle, whose execution last month raised questions about Kim’s grip on power. Kim’s comments in an annual New Year’s Day message, which included a call for improved ties with Seoul but also a warning of a possible “nuclear catastrophe,” will be scrutinized by outside analysts and governments for clues about the opaque country’s intentions and policy goals. Already widespread worry about the country has deepened since Kim publicly humiliated...

A North Korean army minister was executed with a mortar round for reportedly drinking and carousing during the official mourning period after Kim Jong-il's death. On the orders of Kim Jong-un to leave "no trace of him behind, down to his hair," according to South Korean media, Kim Chol was forced to stand on a spot that had been zeroed in for a mortar round and "obliterated."

Details emerging from North Korea about Kim Jong-un's surprising public purging of his uncle from a top position indicate that it was a family affair with his aunt and brother, armed with a pistol, taking part in the arrests of ranking officials. ... "What you have to understand is that the North Korean dynasty is run by an absolute blood-based hereditary mindset," pointed out Lee Yun-keol, the president of North Korea Strategic Information Service Center. The purge drama was designed by Kim Kyong-hee, Jang's wife, and Kim Jong-un, Lee said. ... The South Korean media have also been reporting that...

North Korea announced Thursday it had executed the uncle of leader Kim Jong Un, declaring him a traitor who tried to overthrow the state. The announcement came only days after Pyongyang announced through state media that Jang Song Thaek -- long considered the country's No. 2 power -- had been removed from all his posts because of allegations of corruption, drug use, gambling, womanizing and leading a "dissolute and depraved life." State news agency KCNA said a tribunal examined Jang's crimes, including "attempting to overthrow the state by all sorts of intrigues and despicable methods with a wild ambition to...

North Korea announced Monday it had sacked leader Kim Jong Un’s uncle, long considered the country’s No. 2 power, saying corruption, drug use, gambling, womanizing and generally leading a “dissolute and depraved life” had caused Pyongyang’s highest-profile fall from grace since Kim took power two years ago. The removal of Jang Song Thaek, once seen as Kim’s mentor, is the most significant in a series of purges the young leader has conducted in an apparent effort to bolster his power since his father’s 2011 death. But worries remained over whether the expulsion of such a senior figure could instead lead...

Documentary footage of North Korea ruler Kim Jong-Un appears to have been edited so as to remove his once-powerful uncle, who has reportedly been sacked from some of the highest-ranking positions in the so-called "Hermit Kingdom." (SNIP) Yonhap reportedly viewed the documentary footage of Kim's inspection visit to a military unit, which was rerun on the North's Korean Central Television Station, and noted in a report that Jang had been hidden or deleted in a total of 13 scenes. By contrast, a version that aired nine times in October clearly showed Jang accompanying his nephew and standing close by.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) told a parliamentary committee that it believed Jang Song-thaek had been removed as vice chairman of the North’s top military body, the National Defence Commission. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s uncle, seen as his nephew’s political regent and one of the most powerful men in the country, has apparently been ousted and several associates executed, South Korea’s spy agency said on Tuesday. According to the NIS, Jang was “recently ousted from his position and two of his close confidantes – Ri Yong-ha and Jang Soo-kil – were publicly executed in mid November”, lawmaker Jung Cheong-rae...

THE brother-in-law of Kim Jong-il has taken over the running of North Korea, stamping on dissent while the dictator recovers from a stroke. A stream of reports has reached exiles about the man wielding an iron fist to keep the country under tight control as its 23m people endure a hungry winter. He is Jang Song-thaek, a 62-year-old lifetime party functionary with pomaded hair, gold-rimmed glasses and a taste for dark suits, who was nominated on December 6 as director of the Korean Workers’ party, a title that conceals his role as head of internal security. His chief qualification for...