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Uncle of North Korean Leader Stripped of Power, According to Reports Uncle of Kim Seen as Purged In North Korea
(about 9 hours later)
SEOUL, South Korea — Jang Song-thaek, an uncle of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and a man widely considered to be No. 2 in the Pyongyang government, has been dismissed from all posts of influence, the National Intelligence Service of South Korea told Parliament on Tuesday. SEOUL, South Korea — Kim Jong-un, the 30-year-old leader of North Korea, came to power two years ago so inexperienced and untested that the reclusive government named his uncle as the North Korean equivalent of a regent to watch over him.
Mr. Jang’s downfall follows the executions of his two deputies last month at the administrative department of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea on charges of “corruption and anti-party activities,” according to lawmakers who were briefed by intelligence officials in a hurriedly scheduled meeting at the National Assembly. The South Korean intelligence agency did not reveal how it learned of the executions, the lawmakers said. On Tuesday, the National Intelligence Service of South Korea reported that the uncle, Jang Song-thaek, had been stripped of his powers, apparently by the young leader he was supposed to supervise. It was the biggest in a series of purges, promotions and reshufflings of elites that seem to have remade the government in the image of its young leader, who inherited his title, and apparently techniques for keeping the government in control, from his father and grandfather.
North Korean news media have not reported on Mr. Jang’s fate or on the executions. In the past, North Korean officials reported by South Korean news media to have been purged have occasionally resurfaced. But Mr. Jang’s unusually long absence from the news in North Korea and the South Korean intelligence service’s special briefing to lawmakers were seen as clear signs that he is in trouble. The political changes, which were not announced by North Korea and could not be independently confirmed, follow a series of upheavals, especially within the military. American intelligence officials and some outside analysts speculate that Mr. Kim is sidelining the stalwarts of his father, Kim Jong-il, and elevating a new set of generals and party officials who owe their loyalty only to him. But there are also hints, one American intelligence official said, that “there was some kind of broader contest for control, which Jang lost, at least for now.”
Mr. Jang, 67, has been a mentor to his nephew as well as a fixture in the North Korean power elite since the days of Mr. Kim’s father, Kim Jong-il, exercising his widespread influence from the party’s administrative department, which he led. He is the husband of Kim Kyong-hee, the beloved sister of Kim Jong-il and an aunt of the current leader. Early in the young Mr. Kim’s tenure, American intelligence assessments questioned whether he would have the staying power to remain in office, and said he was regarded by the North Korean military as spoiled and naïve.
Mr. Jang and his wife emerged as key brokers of power in the reclusive North Korean regime after Kim Jong-il suffered a stroke in 2008. They played leading roles in engineering the fast-track grooming of Kim Jong-un as designated heir, analysts said. Following Kim Jong-il’s death in late 2011, the couple then helped their nephew consolidate power through a series of purges that replaced 44 percent of top officials in the party, military and cabinet. Two years later those assessments are reversing. He is now seen as fully in charge. Mr. Kim has already begun testing the loyalty of top officials by dismissing or demoting them and letting them try to win his favor again — often by spying against others, another technique of leadership inherited from his father, according to South Korean officials and analysts.
But Mr. Jang’s seemingly unbridled influence has also prompted outside analysts to speculate that Mr. Kim would eventually see him as a potential challenge to his authority. They said Mr. Kim had moved to weaken the broad network Mr. Jang built while the government was going through a transition in the past two years. On Sunday, the main party daily, Rodong Sinmun, the North’s key propaganda tool, exhorted North Koreans to thoroughly establish the “monolithic leadership of Kim Jong-un” and “follow him to the end of the world.” Mr. Jang’s apparent fall from power came after his two deputies at the administrative department of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea were executed last month on charges of “corruption and anti-party activities,” according to South Korean lawmakers who were briefed by intelligence officials in a hurriedly scheduled meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul.
Jeong Cheong-rae, a lawmaker affiliated with the opposition Democratic Party in South Korea, said: “The intelligence agency gave us an unexpected briefing, saying that they had something urgent to report about a development of great import in North Korea. They said they believed that Jang Song-thaek had fallen from power.” The intelligence agency did not reveal how it learned of the executions, the lawmakers said.
It remained unclear whether Mr. Jang had just lost jobs or had also been incarcerated. Mr. Jang is estranged from his ailing wife, according to reports in the South Korean media. “I don’t think Jang’s deputies were executed for mere corruption. Rather, they were executed because they established a ‘power,’ ” said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior analyst at Sejong Institute in South Korea.
Mr. Jang has not been seen in the North Korean news media since Nov. 6, when he received Kanji Inoki, a former professional wrestler turned politician from Japan, in his capacity as North Korea’s top sports official. A public appearance together with Kim Jong-un, a big sign that an official is favored by Mr. Kim, was last awarded to Mr. Jang on Oct. 10, the party's anniversary. Despite initial hints that Mr. Kim might seek a more cooperative relationship with the country’s neighbors and the United States, he has accompanied political changes at home with a hard-line nationalistic policy of accelerating the country’s nuclear program, the main card it has to play in international negotiations.
The number of Mr. Jang’s appearances with Mr. Kim in North Korean news media fell to 52 so far this year from 106 last year, according to the Unification Ministry of South Korea. In February, North Korea conducted its third nuclear test, and it appears to be restarting its capacity to produce plutonium, a main ingredient for its small nuclear arsenal. And it has threatened to attack Japanese, South Korea and American targets, though in recent months the country’s warnings of imminent war have quieted.
The sudden toppling of Mr. Jang was likely to unleash a shake-up of the power structure in Pyongyang, analysts here said. The reported downfall of Mr. Jang, effectively North Korea’s No. 2 leader, set off a frenzy of speculation among North Korea watchers and South Korean government officials. Since Mr. Kim took power, they have theorized that a power and policy struggle might be playing out behind the public displays of mass solidarity. Mr. Jang’s rise in power in the past few years coincided with the humiliation of the old military elite, who surrendered some of their lucrative rights to trade in minerals and seafood to the Cabinet and the party, where Mr. Jang has built his career.
The regime propagated the news of the executions of Mr. Jang’s two deputies, Ri Yong-ha and Jang Su-gil, to the military and other elites while stepping up ideological education aimed at increasing loyalty to Kim Jong-un, said Cho Won-jin, a lawmaker belonging to the governing Saenuri Party of South Korea who attended an intelligence briefing on Tuesday. Some analysts said they feared that the eclipse of Mr. Jang so early in Mr. Kim’s rule could suggest a power struggle that could destabilize the North. If so, they worry that Mr. Kim might resort to militaristic provocations to divert attention from domestic instability.
More investigations and purges of people connected with Mr. Jang were underway, Mr. Cho quoted intelligence officials as saying. On Tuesday, the Defense Ministry in Seoul said it saw no unusual movement from the North Korean army.
A spokesman for the National Intelligence Service referred to the comments from Mr. Cho and Mr. Jeong when reporters asked for information about its parliamentary briefing. The briefing to the lawmakers was widely reported in South Korean news media on Tuesday. “Jang Song-thaek and his wife, Kim Kyong-hee, have been the core members of power upholding Kim Jong-un, and I think Jang’s fall will entail a serious shake-up in the North Korean political landscape,” said Jeong Cheong-rae, a South Korean opposition lawmaker and member of the National Assembly’s intelligence committee on Tuesday. “The intelligence agency gave us an unexpected briefing today, saying that they had something urgent to report about a development of great import in North Korea.”
Mr. Jang has been a member of key agencies headed by Kim Jong-un: He has been a member of the Politburo, vice chairman of the party’s Central Military Commission and vice chairman of the National Defense Commission. Mr. Jang’s apparent fall from power came after his two deputies at the administrative department of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea were executed last month on charges of “corruption and anti-party activities,” according to lawmakers who were briefed by intelligence officials in a hurriedly scheduled meeting at the National Assembly.
Pyongyang politics is rich ground for speculation among North Korea watchers. Since Mr. Kim took power, they have theorized that a power and policy struggle might be playing out behind the public displays of mass solidarity. Mr. Jang has long been described as a “guardian” for his young nephew. Some analysts have suggested that Mr. Kim remained little more than a figurehead, with the real power belonging to his “regent,” Mr. Jang. The intelligence agency did not reveal how they learned of the executions, the lawmakers said.
Such speculation gained currency as Mr. Jang and his wife won important party posts in recent years. A new party elite — many of whose members were reportedly also close to the couple — also deprived the old military elite of lucrative powers, including the ability to trade in minerals and other commodities. In the past, North Korean officials reported to have been purged in South Korean media have resurfaced. Mr. Jang himself had disappeared twice in the past but later staged a comeback. Still, even before the South Korea intelligence report, his unusually long absence from North Korean media were viewed by media in the South as signs that Mr. Jang was in trouble.
In April, Pak Pong-ju, an economic technocrat described as close to Mr. Jang, was made premier, a post that includes oversight of the economy. Mr. Jang had been seen as something of a champion of economic openness in North Korea. Last year, he visited China to seek Beijing’s help in building two free economic zones on its border. “The latest purge or execution of Jang’s followers sends a powerful message to all and particularly to those harboring illusions of power,” said Sung-yoon Lee, North Korea specialist at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
But longtime observers of North Korea, especially those in South Korea, have emphasized that the concentration of power in the top leader, a system perfected by Mr. Kim’s father, renders Mr. Jang and any other member of the elites as pawns in Kim Jong-un’s scheme of control. “In a totalitarian system, the life of the No. 2 man or regent is oftentimes short and precarious,” Mr. Lee added.
Mr. Kim, 30, has swiftly consolidated his grip since being declared supreme leader after his father’s death. He sidelined the stalwarts from his father’s days and elevated a new set of generals and party officials who owe their loyalty directly to him. He has often tested the loyalty of top generals by dismissing or demoting them and letting them try to win his favor again — often by spying against others, another technique of leadership inherited from his father, according to South Korean officials and analysts. Mr. Jang, 67, has been a fixture in the North Korean power elite since the days of Kim Jong-il, exercising his widespread influence from the party’s administrative department, which he headed. His wife is the sister of Kim Jong-il and an aunt of the current leader.
Mr. Jang has disappeared from public view twice before, the last time from 2003 to 2006, during a period when Mr. Kim’s father suppressed his power. He was humbled and later reinstated, according to South Korean officials. The couple emerged as key brokers of power after Kim Jong-il suffered a stroke in 2008. They played leading roles in engineering the fast-track grooming of Kim Jong-un as designated heir, analysts said.
Cheong Seong-chang, a senior analyst at Sejong Institute in South Korea, said Mr. Jang’s latest downfall must have been engineered by Kim Won-hong, who was made head of the North’s secret police and spy agency in April last year, and Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae, who became the top political officer in the military under Mr. Kim. Following Kim Jong-il’s death in late 2011, the couple helped their nephew consolidate power through a series of purges that replaced 44 percent of top officials in the party, military and cabinet. (Mr. Jang is estranged from his ailing wife, according to reports in the South Korean news media.)
Mr. Choe has long been known as a protégé of Mr. Jang. But he eclipsed Mr. Jang in influence this year by appearing with Mr. Kim in North Korean media more often than any other member of the elite. Outside news outlets have since called Mr. Jang a “guardian” and “mentor” for his young nephew. In April, Pak Pong-ju, an economic technocrat reportedly close to Mr. Jang, was made premier, a post that includes oversight of the economy. Last year, Mr. Jang visited China to seek Beijing’s help in building two free economic zones on its border.
“In a totalitarian system, the life of the No. 2 man or regent is oftentimes short and precarious,” said Lee Sung-yoon, a North Korea specialist at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. But Mr. Jang’s seemingly unbridled influence has also prompted analysts to speculate that Mr. Kim would eventually see him as a challenge to his authority. They said that Mr. Kim had moved to weaken the broad network Mr. Jang had built while the regime was going through a transition in the last two years.
Mr. Jang may survive this reported purge and come back, as he did from his two previous purges, because it would be hard for Kim Jong-un to kill an uncle, Mr. Lee said. “But the latest purge or execution of Jang’s followers sends a powerful message to all and particularly to those harboring illusions of power,” he said. Mr. Jang would not be the first No. 2 or the first uncle of the North Korean leader to lose power. Kim Jong-il plotted a purge of his own powerful uncle to solidify control after the death of his father, the North’s founding president, Kim Il-sung.
On Tuesday, the South Korean intelligence officials said the North’s secret police began investigating the corruption of Mr. Jang’s close allies this year. In July last year, Kim Jong-un removed his then No. 2 man, Vice Marshal Ri Yong-ho.
“I don’t think Jang’s deputies were executed for mere corruption: Rather, they were executed because they established a ‘power,’ ” said Mr. Cheong, the analyst. “This case shows that Jang has never been a ‘de facto No. 2.’ If anything, it shows that Kim Jong-un’s power is solid and the North Korean elite will become more fervent to prove their loyalty to him.” Analysts said they suspected that Mr. Jang’s downfall may have been engineered by Kim Won-hong, who was made head of the nation’s secret police and spy agency in April last year, and Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae, who became the top political officer in the military under Mr. Kim. On Tuesday, the South Korean intelligence officials said North Korea’s secret police began investigating the corruption of Mr. Jang’s close allies this year.
Mr. Jang has vanished from public view twice before, the last time from 2003 to 2006, during a period when Mr. Kim’s father suppressed his power. He was humbled and later reinstated, according to South Korean officials.