His Will Be Done
"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."
Jeong Cheong-Rae, lawmaker, Democratic Party, South Korea
North Korea's party daily Rodong Sinmun performed its propaganda obligations, exhorting North Koreans to embrace the "monolithic leadership of Kim Jong-un" and to be prepared to adoringly "follow him to the end of the world." His will be done.
All those who may feel within Seoul's government administration that their presence and their work on behalf of the new Great Leader is indispensable should take care to adjust their reality lens. No one is guaranteed to be viewed as of vital importance to Kim Jong-un and his continued reign of terror. To believe otherwise is to err -- dangerously.
This is a reality that appears to have been newly discovered by an uncle-by-marriage of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Married to his father's sister, Mr. Jang doubtless considered himself of huge importance in the executive scheme of his nephew's pomp and ceremony. After all, the 67-year-old Mr. Jang has been a valuable mentor to his nephew, a vital part of the North Korean power elite under Kim-Jong-il.
He and his wife Kim Kyong Hee, the sister of Kim Jong-il, the current leader's aunt, groomed the young man as designated heir after his father had a stroke in 2008. And with Kim Jong-il's death in 2011, they did their duty aiding their nephew to take power, assisting in a number of purges that resulted in the replacement of 44% of top party, military and cabinet officials.
It doesn't do, however, to exercise too much influence, inviting the critical, conniving eye of someone jealous of their own importance and any conceivable competition. Palace intrigues are sinister and devoid of compassion. Bit by bit the network that Mr. Jang had carefully constructed during the transition phase of government has been dismantled by his nephew.
Two of his deputies at the ruling Workers' Party of Korea were charged with "corruption and anti-party activities", and summarily executed. It's called the writing on the wall. There were, of late, fewer and fewer occasions when Jang Song Thaek was privileged by being given permission to appear in public with Kim Jong-un.
Now, Uncle Jang Song Thaek is nowhere to be seen. A guardian no more. Uncles propose, nephews dispose.
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| In this Saturday, July 27, 2013 file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, second left, flanked by Yang Hyong Sop, second right, vice president of the Presidium of North Korea's parliament, his uncle Jang Song Thaek, right, and Choe Ryong Hae, vice Marshal, left, as he tours the newly opened Fatherland Liberation War Museum, as part of celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice in Pyongyang, North Korea. Two South Korean lawmakers say they were told by intelligence officials that two associates of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's powerful uncle Jang were executed last month. They say the uncle has not been seen in public since then and may have been dismissed. There was no way to independently confirm the report about Jang. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E) |
Labels: Celebrity, Conflict, Controvery, Culture, Custom, North Korea
posted by Pieface @ Friday, December 06, 2013
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