Why did Kim Purge his Uncle - or a family unglued in North Korea

Click for article by Andrei Lankov

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C-front) applauding at a concert in Pyongyang as his uncle, Jang Song Thaek (front L), looks on, April 15, 2013.

AFP PHOTO/KCNA via KNS

Old Korea - photography

See this Link

Merry Christmas - Namdaemun circa 19th Century

NOTE: This  is before t he Japanese Colonial Period, when a similar picture would show a street car rail line going through the gate.

The Happy Couple

Ri Sol-ju, left, is pictured Tuesday without a Kim Il Sung badge as she attends a function marking the second anniversary of Kim Jong-il’s death, with her husband Kim Jong-un, at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang. [Rodong Sinmun] From supreme leader Kim Jong-un down to the poorest farmer, what the approximately 24.7 million North Korean citizens have in common is the required duty to wear a badge bearing the portraits of Kim Il Sung or Kim Jong-il. Joonjang Daily

North Korean Puppetry?

Is Kim Jong-un a Puppet of Hardline Brass?

Speculation is growing that hardline North Korean generals were behind the execution of leader Kim Jong-un's uncle Jang Song-taek and that Kim was merely their pawn. 

That would be worrying for South Korea, which would face an increased threat of military provocations....

(Chosun Ilbo, click  here or title for full article)

South Korea's 'juicy bars': one woman's story of slavery and escape

Wayne Algood, circa 1968, Sinchon Village Alley

Then...

                  ...and now.  Click for CNN Freedom Project.

Glorification of Prostitution in Korea. Click here to see interview about modern sex slavery in Korea.

Ruling through Fear...North Korea

Kim Family Regime ruling through fear...how is that a surprise?

On the Razor's Edge?

North Korea Explodes the Myth of Unchallenged Kim Dynasty

DPRK - the future?

What does Jang Song-thaek's ousting mean for North Korea? – Q&A

Key questions answered on the very public purge of Kim Jong-un's hitherto powerful uncle

• 
• • Tania Branigan
  • theguardian.com, Monday 9 December 2013 05.25 EST

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at a politburo meeting in Pyongyang: it is unclear whether the purge is a move to consolidate his power. Photograph: Kcna/Reuters

Executed!

North Korea executes leader's uncle as a traitor BY ERIC TALMADGE AND FOSTER KLUG

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2013/12/12/3370397/nkorea-executes-leaders-uncle.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2013/12/12/3370397/nkorea-executes-leaders-uncle.html#storylink=cpy

Family Business in the North - Sacked

China Says Jang Song-taek's Ouster an 'Internal Affair'

Beijing "hopes that the North will achieve national stability, economic development 

and happiness for its people," Hong Lei told reporters. He added it remains committed to maintaining traditionally friendly relations with the North.

Hong said he did not know whether the North had notified China of Jang's arrest beforehand.

(read full article by clicking on the title)

Shakeup in North Korea?

Aide to N. Korean leader's ousted uncle seeks asylum in South: media

 

6 hours ago

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (R), walks past his uncle North Korean politician Jang Song-thaek, during a military parade to mark the birth anniversary of the late leader, Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang, in this file photo taken by Kyodo February 16, 2012. Jang, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's uncle, widely believed to be the power behind the throne in the secretive dynastic state, has been dismissed from his post, South Korean media said on December 3, 2013, citing officials at Seoul's top spy agency. Yonhap news agency and YTN cable news channel said Jang Song Thaek, who holds the title of vice chairman of the North's powerful National Defence Commission, had been removed from his post, citing the National Intelligence Service. MANDATORY CREDIT REUTERS/Kyodo/File (NORTH KOREA - Tags: POLITICS OBITUARY) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. MANDATORY CREDIT. JAPAN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN JAPAN

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea could be facing its most serious defection in 15 years as South Korean media said on Friday that a man who managed funds for the ousted uncle of leader Kim Jong Un had fled the isolated country and sought asylum in South Korea.

South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) had no knowledge of the defection, lawmakers said in Seoul after they were briefed by the head of the spy agency.The aide, who was not named, was being protected by South Korean officials in a secret location in China, cable news network YTN and Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper said, citing sources familiar with the matter.

YTN said the man managed funds for Jang Song Thaek, whose marriage to Kim's aunt and proximity to the young leader made him one of the most powerful men in North Korea.

Jang was relieved of his posts last month, according to the NIS, and the television network said the sacking could have followed the aide's defection.

YTN said the aide also had knowledge of funds belonging to Kim and his father, former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. If true, the defection would likely be the first time in 15 years a significant insider from the Pyongyang regime has switched sides.

Impoverished but nuclear-capable North Korea and the rich, democratic South are still technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

A spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry, Kim Eui-do, and officials at the Foreign Ministry said the defection report could not be confirmed.

Jung Chung-rae, a member of the South Korean parliament's Intelligence Committee, told reporters the intelligence service had said it did not know about the defection, but that two of Jang's relatives who were serving in embassies overseas had been recalled.

"It is true that Jang's brother-in-law and nephew have been called back to North Korea," Jung cited the NIS as saying.

Jang himself is alive and appears to be safe, South Korean officials have said.

Jang has survived previous purges and official displeasure, thanks largely to his sometimes tempestuous marriage to Kim Kyong Hui, the daughter of North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung.

"WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION," CHINA SAYS

North Korea's ruling Kim family is deeply venerated and feared. It is ruthless about protecting its security and privacy and little is known about the inner workings of the regime.

The aide requested asylum about two months ago and was currently in China, YTN said. In Beijing, there were no signs of any additional security around the South Korean embassy.

Asked about the South Korean media reports, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said: "We have noted the reports, but do not understand the situation."

South Korea's intelligence service has also said two of Jang's close associates were executed last month for corruption.

These reports have not been confirmed either.

YTN said Jang's aide fled to China some time in late September or early October and that Jang could have been sacked because of this.

"A source familiar with the matter said the aide immediately requested asylum from the South Korean government and South Korean officials are currently protecting him at a secret place in China," it said.

China, Pyongyang's only major ally, usually resists allowing defectors from North Korea to seek asylum elsewhere.

YTN said the aide tried to escape to Laos, a route favored by other defectors, but Chinese authorities prevented him from leaving.

U.S. officials have also sought custody of the aide, the television station said.

About 25,000 North Koreans have defected to the South but few of them were highly placed in Pyongyang.

The major defectors include Hwang Jang Yop, a high-level Worker's Party ideologue who was the architect of the Juche (self-reliance) ideology of North Korea, who sought asylum in the South in 1997.

Kim Jong Un's aunt, his mother's sister, fled to the United States in 1998, media reports have said.

In 2002, a North Korean nuclear scientist named Kyong Won Ha escaped the country, although few details are known.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park and Jack Kim; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Nick Macfie)