Jang Sung Taek, until recently, was Kim Jong Un's uncle and one of his closest advisors. In the past Jang had been sent to a steel mill for reforming work due to party disloyalty. This time Jang had been caught opening up the north borders to allow trade between North Korea and China. His crime was for not working as a unit with the other political officials. He had also been caught gambling and other corrupt actions. This lead to Kim using Jang as a message to the people of North Korea that corruption is punishable by death, even for royal family. KCNA released Jang Sung Taek's execution on December 12. Kim Jong Un wanted to send a message that North Korea is going to go through some internal reform, but will not allow people like Jang Sung Taek to undercut the people working on it.
It seems to me like Kim wasn't really a part of this. If KCNA come out with the story in less than a week of it happening then obviously Kim had nothing to do with it or else that would have never been released to the outside world. It also seems like Kim was backed into a corner here because his uncle made him look bad and party disloyalty is punishable by death, whether you're family or not. I don't think Jang was in the wrong for opening up the trade borders between North Korea and China.
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Let it be known that Jang Sung Taek is still technically Kim Jung-Un's uncle... any ways, this is a very interesting post. I agree that Jang was not wrong in his efforts to undergo economic reform and increase trade in the country, but ultimately that matters little to Pyongyang. BBC recently published an article that explained that the purge of Jang was a key indicator that the North was experiencing some internal instability, and that purges of party leadership have, in the past, been correlated with efforts to quell unrest. I wish I knew more about the internal politics of North Korea, but then again no one really does. Acts like this, however, show that the regime to be so incredibly repressive that calls must be made for China to do more to usher N. Korea into a more peaceful international stance.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me a lot of the trials and errors of the PRC in the around the 1980s. There was a lot of political infighting and no one clear direction for the party to move. Most of Mao's policies were a disaster, however the country couldn't give up completely on its ideology, leading to turmoil and political infighting amongst the top party members. Taek may have had nothing to do with increasing trade, or he may have taken the initiative on himself entirely. Remember how young Jung-Un is, I remember thinking he would last a second after his father died, and that some general would take his place. It's not surprising then if his Uncle believed he could evade Un's notice or bully the kid. Or it could a Lin Bao reenactment as Taek's arrest seems suspicious. Ultimately the kid's protecting his image and enforcing the cult around him with this move.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone posting about how Jang Sung Taek's efforts to open up trade with China as being a positive thing, but the Uncle component is huge. you have to remember that this is the brother of the chosen descendant to rule. As the other posters have noted Un is simply ensuring his power is recognized, but not just to the military, to the people swell. My understanding of North Korean ideology is that they see the dear-leader as literally a god figure. Think hypotheticaly if the brother of ones god was going against his son, the one who is supposed to be the new god it causes the wrong message to the population- this is why i think such actions were really taken. If it was just the military wanting it done, he would ( in my opinion) still be wasting away at a labor camp, however i don't truly know the extent of what Taek actually did. While the Military in North Korea is very strong and the Kim's have historically had to appease its top tier members, it is fractionalized and without direct leadership (as explicitly designed by the Kim's), so i feel as though this is simply more cult building following two generations of basically doing the same thing.
ReplyDeleteI believe that reputation and image have played a large role in the execution. North Korea cannot afford to look weak otherwise they will lose credibility in the international scene. With members of the royal family that are openly defiant, it will send the wrong message to the population. In my opinion it was one of his only options and whether he wanted to do it or had to remains unseen. I don't know how this will affect relations with China, but I do not see North Korea making any new trade relations in the near future.
ReplyDeleteI do not think the question here is whether it was right or wrong for him to open up the boarders. I find it very interesting that the North Korean government would kill off leaders for not promoting the views that they believe in. This shows truly how strong the government is in this country and how much their reputation matters. If one were to look at this from a social science view, I think it is evident that the government is attempting to keep its population afraid in order for them to maintain power. With the way the civilians live in this country it is striking that there has not been an uprising on the government; now it is very clear why this has not happened yet. Every time anyone is out of line, even if it is family of the governmental leaders, they are killed. This fear is what is keeping this government in power.
ReplyDeleteThis was a signal to the country that deflection will not be tolerated. The family aspect drives home the point that a traitor is a traitor. Since Kim Jong Un has taken power, it has been questioned on who is actually running the show Most likely some general. In the linked nknews artice, it is stated by the KCNA that Jang Sung Taek planned on overthrowing the leadership and socialist system, but I'm not certain if Kim Jong Un has enemies like that in NK's anti-party system. We already know why he was killed.
ReplyDeleteTo quickly address Zach's comment, Jang was not related to Kim by blood, he was his uncle through marriage. That said, it does not drastically change the situation. Kim Jong Un killed a family member and a close advisor for very little reason. This could well be the start of a further downward spiral for North Korea.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post. This event reminds of Great Purges during Stalin. Punishing disloyalty within the party group, raising the status of Kim Jong to the one of God, all of these things somewhat resemble the Russian system during the great Purges. Kim Jong is trying to instill fear and respect into its populace, in order establish himself as a strong and powerful leader. Nonetheless, regimes that are this much authoritarian and oppressive, will eventually be forced into peace negotiations.
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