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China-Japan-Koreas

Pudgy's Uncle Gains Control of N.Korea

2012-08-14

North Korea is now firmly under the control of Jang Song-taek, the eminence grise behind 20-something leader Fat Boy Kim Jong-un, following the purge of a rival group led by army chief Ri Yong-ho. Analysts say Jang has emerged as the sole power behind the throne, systematically dismantling a power structure put in place by former leader Kim Jong-il before his death in 2011. You didn't think Pudgy was running the country himself, did you... In January 2009, when Kim Jong-il handpicked his son Suet Face Jong-un to succeed him, he handed control of the military to Ri, of the State Security Department to its first deputy director U Dong-chuk, and of the Workers Party's Organization and Guidance Department to some officials close to Jang, according to an informed source. But no sooner was Kim dead than Jang set about eliminating Ri, U and other key officials. "There'd be no reason for Kim Jong-un himself to dismantle after just seven months in office the support structure his father built for him," said Baek Seung-joo at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses. "The shadow of Jang Song-taek looms large" over the young leader. Jang, who is Kim Jong-un's uncle, seems to have been intent on getting rid of his rivals since 2010. His greatest rival Ri Je-gang, a one-time first deputy director of the Workers Party's powerful Organization and Guidance Department, died in a mysterious car accident in May 2010, just a few days before Jang was to be promoted. And early last year, spy chief Ryu Kyong, another apparent rival, was accused of treason following a visit to Seoul and was purged. Instead, figures considered loyal to Jang now occupy key posts in the regime. New army chief Choe Ryong-hae, Mun Kyong-dok, the head of the party's Pyongyang chapter, Ri Yong-su, the head of the party's labor groups, Ambassador to China Ji Jae-ryong, and Sports Minister Pak Myong-chol -- all have been close to Jang for decades. Does Jang have any kids? Officials who have sided with Jang are generally doing fine. A key example is Kim Jong-il’s last wife Kim Ok, who served as de facto leader when Kim suffered a massive stroke in August 2008. "At that time, Kim Ok deferred to the opinions of Jang and his wife Kim Kyong-hui, Kim Jong-il's sister," an informed source said. "That appears to have guaranteed her status following Kim's death." But some experts say there are natural limits to Jang's power. "In North Korea, only the Kim family is allowed to reign," said on intelligence source. "Jang's power will last only as long as his wife is alive." Or until Pudgy eats one too many snails... Meanwhile, Kim Jong-un appears besotted with a new amusement park in Pyongyang and has conducted four on-site visits so far this year, with pictures from the latest beamed around the world. "Kim has no major accomplishments under his belt He's a no-account party boy who flunked out of a Swiss boarding school; why would anyone expect him to have any accomplishments? and seems to be touting the amusement park to highlight how much attention he is paying to the people," a government official here said.

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China-Japan-Koreas

Pudgy Tours Elite Military Units

2012-02-08

New North Korean leader Suet Face Kim Jong-un visited seven military units over the past month, most of them of elite forces. A South Korean security official said Seoul is trying to find out why Kim is focusing on these elite units that have great strategic and symbolic significance. Because if Pudgy doesn't have them on his side he'll be overthrown in a Pyongyang minute... The state-run media reported Kim on Jan. 31 visited the 1,017th Air Force Unit, one of two MIG-29 fighter units in the North. The MIG-29 is the newest of the North's 800 fighter jets and was donated by the Soviet Union in the late 1980s. So it's not really 'new'... During his visit, Kim climbed into the cockpit of a MIG-29 standing on the tarmac and had his photo taken with the pilots. Sorta like Dukakis in a tank, but no one dared to laugh... Earlier, on Jan. 18, Kim visited the 169th Army Unit, an infiltration unit specializing in sending commandoes to South Korea. The 105th Seoul Ryu Kyong-su Guards Division, which he visited on New Year's Day, is remembered as the unit that entered Seoul three days after the Korean War broke out in 1950 and hoisted the North Korean flag at the top of the main government building in Seoul. While still the heir, Kim accompanied his father Kim Jong-il on another visit to the unit in January 2010, where he drove a tank by himself. Shin Beom-chul of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses said, "It seems Kim Jong-un is visiting elite units to demonstrate most effectively that his power base lies in the military." "All this seems to be his warning to the South not to get carried away just because he is a green wet behind the ears snot nosed rookie leader," a researcher at another government-funded think tank said.

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China-Japan-Koreas

N. Korea Starts Image-Building of New Leader

2012-01-05

North Korea portrays Suet Face Kim Jong-un as a confident, chummy new leader in footage aired on state TV Tuesday evening. In the footage, Pugsley Kim Jong-un looks happy and smiles several times when talking with field commanders during his first official public activity since he became North Korean leader. Kim visited the 105th Seoul Ryu Kyong-su Guards Tank Division last Sunday. Kim is also seen whispering confidentially to officers and soldiers. When an official photograph was taken, the soldiers standing on both sides of Kim Jong-un appear so overwhelmed with emotion when he holds their hands that they look close to tears. It's dangerous not to cry in Nork-land...

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China-Japan-Koreas

Was Pudgy's 1st Tour a Warning to S. Korea?

2012-01-04

Kim Jong-un's visit to a historically important armored division on New Year's Day can be interpreted as a warning to South Korea, pundits believe. When his father Kim Jong-il last visited the tank division on Jan. 5, 2010, North Korean state TV showed drills simulating an invasion of the South. Like father, like son... A South Korean intelligence official said, "Two months after Kim Jong-il's visit to the 105th Seoul Ryu Kyong-Su Guards Division in 2010, North Korea sank the Navy corvette Cheonan. We should watch carefully what the result of Kim Jong-un's visit on Sunday will be." Pundits also believe the visit to the unit, which is seen as the birthplace of the regime's disastrous "military-first" doctrine, was a message to both the domestic and international public that the policy will remain unchanged. Others say the new leader wanted to proclaim to all and sundry that his regime is stable. An Unification Ministry official said, "It seems he is trying to dispel doubts surrounding his inexperience and lack of charisma." Three out of the "gang of seven" who walked alongside Kim Jong-il’s hearse also accompanied Kim on Sunday -- Jang Song-taek, the vice chairman of the National Defense Committee and widely thought to be the power behind the throne, Ri Yong-ho, vice Chairman of the Workers Party's Central Military Commission, and Kim Jong-gak, the senior deputy director of the North Korean Army's General Political Bureau.

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China-Japan-Koreas

Purges Ensure Pudgy's Succession

2011-12-27

A series of executions and unexplained deaths since North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's son Jong-un was anointed heir to the throne in January 2009 were apparently meant to remove obstacles to the transition. Kim senior instituted several bloody purges to ensure his iron grip on power since he officially took over from his own father in 1994. The most prominent example is perhaps the death of Ri Je-gang, a former senior deputy director of the Organization and Guidance Department and a close aide to Kim Jong-il who oversaw key military appointments for more than two decades. Ri was a bitter rival of Jang Song-taek, Kim Jong-il's brother-in-law and guardian to Jong-un, and was killed in a mysterious car crash in late May 2010, just a few days before Jang was promoted to vice chairman of the National Defense Commission, the North's highest leadership organ. Ri Yong-chol, the second-in-command at the Organization and Guidance Department, also died of acute cirrhosis a heart attack in April of last year. "Ri Je-gang was the central figure of the old guard," a knowledgeable source in China said. "He seems to have been eliminated to boost the power of Kim Jong-un's supporters." Economic officials have also purged. Pak Nam-gi, director of the Planning and Finance Department in the Workers Party, and Moon Il-bong, head of finance, were executed by firing squad in April and June last year. Hong Sok-hyong, who succeeded Pak, was relieved of all of his duties in June and his whereabouts are unknown. Ex-minister of railways Kim Yong-sam was executed in June of last year after being linked to a massive explosion in Ryongchon in 2004 that is believed to have been a botched attack on Kim Jong-il's armored train. Key intelligence and public security officials have also disappeared while the succession was being assured. Ryu Kyong, the deputy director of the State Security Department, was shot early this year as he was considered a rival to Jang. Ju Sang-song, the minister of People's Security, was fired in March of this year. "Those considered as obstacles to Kim Jong-un are being removed," a source said. "Another bloody purge is likely after the period of mourning for Kim Jong-il ends." The crosshairs are expected to be aimed at elderly military and party officials who could consider Kim Jong-un a lightweight. They're going to purge everyone then... Pensions are expensive, you know. O Kuk-ryol (80), who was the central military figure during the Kim Jong-il regime is on top of the bucket list, according to experts. O was not appointed to any position within the Politburo or Central Military Commission during an extraordinary party congress in September last year. The North's espionage operations against South Korea, which O had headed over the past 20 years, are now headed by Kim Yong-chol, who has emerged as a key aide to Kim Jong-un. Secretaries to Kim Jong-il and other elderly party officials also represent obstacles to Kim Jong-un. Kim Jong-il in turn got rid of his own father's secretaries when he took over. There are views that Kim Jong-un's "reign of terror" has already begun. According to a government source, there were 60 public executions in North Korea last year, a three-fold increase from 2009. The North Korean government set up special riot police in each part of the country. A year after Kim Jong-il was appointed North Korea's top military commander, in October 1992, he purged 20 military officers who were educated in the Soviet Union and had gained control of the North's troops. In April 1995, just after his father's death, he executed hundreds of soldiers when suspicious developments in the Sixth Army Corps stationed in North Hamgyong Province were detected. In 1997, when millions of North Koreans were starving to death, Kim Jong-il executed his then agriculture secretary So Kwan-hui in Pyongyang after accusing him of being a U.S. spy.

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China-Japan-Koreas

Kim Jong-un Unleashes Reign of Terror

2011-09-23

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's son Jong-un ...AKA: The Only Fat Kid In North Korea... has unleashed a reign of terror and kickstarted his own personality cult to make up for his lack of experience and competence over the past year. I suppose that makes sense in Nork-land... The obese tubby 20-something was anointed as his father's successor at a party congress last year. "Kim Jong-un is implementing a reign of terror using military and public security agencies," a source said on Wednesday. On what? Doughnut shops? All you can eat buffet lines? "The elite is becoming agitated as he has gone all out to purge senior officials who pose a hurdle to his succession." ...but not that agitated. Senior officials such as minister of public security Ju Sang-song, vice premier Ri Tae-nam, and deputy director of the State Security Department Ryu Kyong were fired or executed on corruption charges. Kim junior also ordered a merciless crackdown on "anti-socialist" trends, including South Korean pop music and TV series, and got deeply involved in organizational and personnel matters at the State Security Department and the Ministry of Public Security, the source added. Hey! This is kinda fun, pops! Yes, I remember when your grandfather let me order the execution of my first thought criminals...you never forget your first time, sonny. As a result, public executions tripled to about 60 last year compared to 2009, and the regime has been carrying out a massive hunt for potential defectors. A special mobile force armed with riot gear has been established to quell any popular uprisings. At last year's party congress, Kim senior appointed his son a vice chairman of the party Central Military Commission, the governing body of the North Korean Army, to help him get a grip on the military. Kim senior also placed the entire top military brass under the commission's jurisdiction. "Under his father's auspices, Kim Jong-un is exercising de-facto command of the military through Ri Yong-ho, the chief of the North Korean Army's general staff, and Kim Jong-gak, the senior deputy director of the North Korean Army's General Political Bureau," the source said. "He has established a support base in the military by replacing old-guard frontline unit commanders with younger commanders in their 30s and 40s who are loyal to him." Generals over 60 who were dismissed in this process resisted en masse, according to an intelligence report. Ooooooh, I'll bet that wasn't a smart move... ...they rather lost their heads... The regime is bent on building a personality cult around Kim junior. An indoctrination handbook has been distributed since the first half of last year with preposterous stories, one of which claims that senior military officers were stunned to see Kim junior fire a handgun when he was only three years old and draw an operational map when he was a schoolboy. A signboard was set up at each major agency and factory saying "Daejangbok," which means "people enjoy the happiness (bok) of having general (daejang) Kim Jong-un." Agencies Kim Junior visited mounted a signboard saying, "Kim Jong-un gave on-the-spot guidance here." "Which spot?" "That spot!" An oil portrait of Kim junior was presented at the Shanghai International Arts Festival held early this month, and school textbooks exalting him are expected to be published soon. The source said his half brother Jong-nam, who was edged out in a power struggle, will seek political asylum abroad to stay alive. That might not save him. But if we had a CIA worth anything at all we'd be working with Jong-nam to start an insurrection movement in the North. But Kim Jong-un is having trouble winning people's hearts and minds. He masterminded attacks on the Navy corvette Cheonan and Yeonpyeong Island last year to divert attention, the source said.

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China-Japan-Koreas

Spy Chief Masterminded Abduction of U.S. Journalists

2011-06-21

Recently executed North Korean spy chief Ryu Kyong planned and orchestrated the abduction of two female U.S. journalists on March 17, 2009, it emerged on Sunday. Good thing you were a loyal thug for your boss Kimmie, huh... Ryu, who served as the deputy director of North Korea's State Security Department, obtained intelligence that Laura Ling and Euna Lee, journalists working for Current TV, were planning to visit the North Korean border as part of their report on defectors. He then used his overseas operatives to bribe an ethnic Korean guide in China to lead the two women into the hands of their abductors. The guide took Ling and Lee to a point on the banks of the Duman (or Tumen) River, where they were dragged across the border into North Korea. The abduction, which occurred just after U.S. President Barack Obama took office, prompted the White House to dispatch former U.S. President Bill Clinton to Pyongyang in August of that year. It also served as a propaganda coup for Pyongyang, which boasted that a former U.S. leader had to "bow before General Kim Jong-il and beg for forgiveness." By successfully carrying out the mission, Ryu was subsequently hailed as a national hero. Teams of overseas operatives, many of which had been in place for years, were mobilized in September of 2002 following the visit to North Korea by former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Many had been tasked with missions aimed at creating favorable diplomatic conditions for the summit. Boosted by the success of the summit, the State Security Department expanded the missions of its overseas operatives until they had created a vast intelligence network in China. South Korean intelligence officials are now trying to ascertain why Ryu, one of Kim Jong-il's closest and most trusted aides, ended up being purged, especially in light of his achievements in prompting former and incumbent U.S. and Japanese leaders to visit North Korea. "The official charge made against Ryu was that he was corrupt and that he accepted bribes," an intelligence source said on Sunday. "But it is doubtful that a key intelligence official in the State Security Department, which is responsible for propping up the North Korean regime, was not just demoted, but executed on such charges." Corruption was the excuse. Everyone's corrupt at that level in Nork-land. Either he double-crossed Kimmie or he wasn't sufficiently zealous about the ascendency of Sonny-Boy... For some, however, Ryu's demise came as little surprise in the context of its leader's despotic rule. "The execution of Ryu Kyong is simply part of Kim Jong-il's reign of terror," said one high-ranking North Korean defector. "When times get tough, Kim Jong-il tends to resort to bloody purges." "We need to focus on the fact that the State Security Department is responsible for the transfer of power, and the execution of Ryu took place during this power transfer," he added. "Kim seems to have wanted to remind people that even the State Security Department is not beyond his reach."

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