Jang Song-thaek

Jang was born in Chongjin, during the Soviet Civil Administration of Northern Korea. He graduated from the Kim Il Sung Senior High School before leaving for Moscow, where he studied at Moscow State University between 1968 and 1972. Following his return, he married Kim Kyong-hui, the younger (and only) sister of Kim Jong Il. ==Early career==

Beginning in the 1970s, Jang held a series of positions in the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). In the late 1970s, however Jang's career stalled when he was sent away from the central party to be manager of a steel and ironworks in Nampo, an apparent demotion. Reports said that he was becoming too powerful or, according to other accounts, he had an over-ostentatious lifestyle. His career recovered and he became deputy director of the Youth Work Department of the 6th WPK Central Committee in 1982 and director in 1985. He was first elected to the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), North Korea's nominal parliament, in 1986. Some South Korean intelligence reports indicated that Jang was under house arrest in Pyongyang, while others suggested he might have been sent for "reeducation". ==Rehabilitation==

Korean Central News Agency on 29 January 2006 found that Jang had been reinstated in December 2005. At the time of the restoration, North Korean media reported that he was not the first deputy director of the organizing leadership of the Party Central Committee, but merely the first deputy director of the Party Central Committee. It is said that he was reinstated as the first deputy director of the Capital Construction Department. In 2005 and in September 2006, Jang was involved in auto accidents, the first leaving him hospitalized for five months. In one of the collisions his car was hit by a military truck, and there were rumors of an assassination plot. Jang re-emerged in March 2006, accompanying Kim Jong Il on an official visit to China. During this period he was a close ally of Kim Jong Il. The NDC was North Korea's de facto supreme decision-making body; Jang's promotion made him a key executive deputy, second only to Kim Jong Il. It is speculated that the move was part of posturing to make Kim Jong Il's son Kim Jong Un the next leader of North Korea. Jang's position in North Korean politics was also ostensibly boosted by the death of Ri Je-gang, a senior leader who was tipped by Kim Jong Il as a crucial overseer of the succession campaign. ==Under Kim Jong Un==

On 25 December 2011, North Korean television Sunday showed Jang in the uniform of a general. A Seoul official familiar with North Korea affairs said it was the first time Jang had been shown on state television in a military uniform. His appearance suggested that Jang had secured a key role in the North's military, which had pledged its allegiance to Kim Jong Un. Jang's importance continued to be demonstrated during his 2012 visit to China: various aspects of the visit echoed protocol which had previously been followed only for Kim Jong Il, including half of his entourage arriving ahead of time as an advance party, with the Chinese ambassador to North Korea, Liu Hongcai, returning to China beforehand to greet Jang upon his arrival. On 17 August 2012, Jang met with China's premier, Wen Jiabao in Ziguangge, Zhongnanhai. He met with Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Wang Jiarui, head of International Liaison Department of the CCP and minister in charge of the national development and reform commission, Zhang Ping, minister of finance Xie Xuren, minister of commerce Chen Deming, Liaoning provincial Party Committee Secretary Wang Min, Jilin provincial Party Committee Secretary Sun Zhengcai, and vice foreign minister Zhang Zhijun. He was the head of a delegation of the joint steering committee for developing and managing the Rason Economic and Trade Zone and the Hwanggumpyong and Wihwa Islands Economic Zone. In the announcement, he was listed as chief of the central administrative department of the Workers' Party of Korea, a member of the WPK political bureau, and vice-chairman of the National Defense Commission. Jang said Kim Jong Un believed that bilateral relations with China are important and that the "profound friendship will be passed on from generation to generation" between China and North Korea. An analyst suggested that this quiet promotion may have signaled a decline in Jang's status: in North Korea, "although sports can bring quick popularity, earn foreign exchange, raise patriotic fever, and help burn the energies of the youth and distract the masses from their daily hardships, it can never beat national security and socio-economic development in terms of its political significance. By asking Jang to chair the National Sports Commission, the young North Korean leader, less than a year into power, might have begun to nudge his uncle out of important policy deliberations." In January 2013, speculation arose that Jang had been quietly promoted to top decision-making Politburo Presidium member, as his official hierarchy position was elevated, displacing then-Chief of General Staff Hyon Yong-chol and his own wife Kim Kyong-hui. An analyst argued that Jang might be appointed president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly (making him the nominal head of state of the DPRK) or Premier of North Korea, replacing officeholders who were in their 80s. Jang Song-thaek promoted the construction of a new bridge over the Yalu River between the Chinese city of Dandong and the Korean city of Sinuiju. , the bridge was nearly completed. That same month, Jang was not invited to the meeting of top North Korean officials handling national security and foreign affairs, following a rocket launch on 12 December 2012, and new international sanctions in response. ==Downfall==

Soon after, in November 2013, Jang's senior aides Ri Ryong-ha and Jang Su-gil were executed. Ri was reportedly accused of abusing his authority, while Jang Su-gil was found guilty of trying to organize a new faction and rejecting the system. Jang was not seen in public after this time. On 3 December, he was dismissed from his post. On 7 December, his appearances were obscured or edited out from a news report (originally aired in October) that re-aired on Korean Central Television. Jang's arrest at a politburo meeting was broadcast on Korean Central Television, the state television broadcaster, in "the most public dismissal... in history" of a prominent North Korean official, and the first time since the 1970s that the arrest of a senior politician at a party meeting was shown on television. Wen Wei Po reported that Lee Yun-keol (the chairman for the Seoul-based North Korea Strategy Information Service Center) stated that Kim Jong-chul (Kim Jong Un's elder brother) had personally led his guards to arrest Jang. Lee said that "even Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae would not dare to carry out the arrest" himself A 2,700-word statement was released stating that the "despicable human scum Jang, who was worse than a dog, perpetrated thrice-cursed acts of treachery in betrayal of such profound trust and warmest paternal love shown by the party and the leader for him". The statement detailed many charges against Jang, stating that he "had desperately worked for years to destabilize and bring down the DPRK and grab the supreme power of the party and state by employing all the most cunning and sinister means and methods". The statement accused Jang of freeing "the undesirable and alien elements, including those who had been dismissed and relieved of their posts after being severely punished for disobeying the instructions of Kim Jong Il and 'let them work in the WPK CC [Korean Workers' Party Central Committee] Administrative Department and organs under it in a crafty manner, which some analysts claim indicates that Jang had instigated a nationwide amnesty in January 2012 which included the closure of several North Korea prison camps and the release of prisoners. An analyst suggested that "since most of the political prisoners freed at that time are now deemed as Jang's factionists, most of them are likely to be returned to jail again". The statement accused Jang of bringing "serious harm to the youth movement in the DPRK, being part of the group of renegades and traitors in the field of youth work, bribed by the enemies". ==Execution==

On 12 December 2013, Jang was tried by a special secret military tribunal of the Ministry of State Security and executed by firing squad, according to state media. Chang Yong-seok, senior researcher at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University, said Jang was "the only one in the North who could talk about economic change. So, when I heard of Mr. Jang's execution, my first thought was that it was a death notice for those of us who have hoped for economic reform in the North." Analysts of North Korean politics agreed that Jang's execution was the most significant since purges carried out in the late 1950s by Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-Un's grandfather and North Korea's founder; since 1960, purged top officials have not usually been killed, and the denunciations of purged figures have not typically been so extreme and public. Professor Charles K. Armstrong, an expert on North Korea at Columbia University, stated that "although high-ranking leaders, including members of the Kim family, have been deposed before, we haven't seen anything this public or dramatic since Kim Jong-un's grandfather Kim Il-sung purged his last major rivals in the late 1950s. This seems to indicate the divisions within the Kim regime were more serious than previously thought." The South Korean ambassador and political science professor Moon Chung-in noted that there had been no policy shifts in the North Korean government and that some of Jang's closest associates, including Pak Pong-ju and Kang Sok-ju, had kept their positions. He also noted that Kim Jong-Un's cabinet continued to emphasize economic incentive systems, innovation, and economic cooperation with China. Moon said that "He [Jang] could, therefore, have been purged and executed because of his obsession with material and organizational interests that challenged Kim Jong-Un's reform initiative to streamline the country's economic management. If this turns out to be true, then Kim Jong-Un should be seen as a reformer, whilst Jang was a reactionary." ==Aftermath==

After Jang's fall, experts speculated that purges of other top figures might follow. An anonymous source said Ji Jae-ryong, North Korean ambassador to China and a close associate of Jang, "will eventually be dealt with"; however South Korean diplomatic sources said it was "business as usual" at that embassy. In early December, Pyongyang recalled two ambassadors: from Malaysia Jang's nephew Jang Yong-chol, from Cuba Jang's brother-in-law Jon Yong-jin. Deputy tourism minister Jo Sung-goyu, another Jang relative, canceled a planned trip to a tourism summit in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The public received word of Jang's dismissal in the Rodong Sinmun on 12 December and were called to meetings to denounce Jang and pledge loyalty to Kim. Two days later, on 14 December, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a roster of six top officials appointed to a national committee in charge of organizing a state funeral for Kim Kuk-tae (a former Workers' Party official who recently died). The roster included the names of Jang's widow (Kim Jong Un's aunt), Kim Kyong-hui, and vice-premier, Ro Du-chol, indicating both survived the purge and remained in favor. KCNA and Rodong Sinmun began erasing references to Jang "as completely as possible", deleting some 100,000 and 20,000 news items from their websites, respectively. The status of Kim Kyong-hui's relationship with Jang had been a subject of frequent speculation. Analysts believe that Jang and Kim Kyong-hui had been estranged. In January 2014, the South Korean Yonhap News Agency reported that the purge had extended to Jang's family, with all his relatives, including children, being rounded up and executed. According to a South Korean newspaper, Jang's nephew, O Sang-hon, was executed by being burnt alive with a flame thrower. Reaction •  – The Yonhap News Agency reported that South Korea held a security ministers' meeting to discuss the North Korean situation. Kim Jang-soo chaired the meeting. Earlier in the week, president Park Geun-hye told a Cabinet meeting that "North Korea is now engaged in a reign of terror while carrying out a massive purge" to consolidate Kim Jong Un's power. The Unification Ministry issued a statement saying that: "The government has deep concerns about a recent series of developments in North Korea and is watching the situation closely." Defense chief minister Kim Kwan-jin told a parliamentary defense meeting on 13 December: "We will heighten readiness against North Korea as (Jang's execution) can lead to provocations against the South. This case can be seen as part of the reign of terror by Kim Jong-Un as he is seeking to consolidate his power with an iron fist." •  – Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga told the Kyodo News agency that the Japanese government was "closely watching the situation" and that "We will calmly monitor the situation while communicating with other countries and collect relevant information." •  – Foreign minister Carl Bildt condemned the execution as "Stalinist" and stated: "I think that what we see now publicly is only the surface of an empire of horror." •  – State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf told the media on 12 December 2013: "While we cannot independently verify this development, we have no reason to doubt the official KCNA report that Jang Song Thaek has been executed. If confirmed, this is another example of the extreme brutality of the North Korean regime." The following day, at the State Department's press briefing, Harf stated that "we would urge the North Koreans not to take provocative acts, not to do so going forward, because it's not in the interest of regional stability". Patrick Ventrell, deputy spokesman for the White House National Security Council, told the Yonhap News Agency that, "if confirmed, this is another example of the extreme brutality of the North Korean regime... We are following developments in North Korea closely and consulting with our allies and partners in the region." Secretary of State John F. Kerry stated in an interview broadcast on ABC's This Week on 15 December that Jang's fate "tells us a lot about … how ruthless and reckless" and "insecure" Kim Jong Un is, and described Kim as "spontaneous, erratic, still worried about his place in the power structure and maneuvering to eliminate" potential competitors. Ban stated: "The period ahead should be used to build confidence in the international community and to improve living conditions for the country's long-suffering people. I stand ready to offer my good offices." Ban reiterated the United Nations' longstanding stance against capital punishment "under any circumstances" and urged North Korea to comply with Security Council resolutions, which North Korea has frequently flouted. ==Alleged survival==

Former U.S. basketball star Dennis Rodman told DuJour Magazine that during his visit to North Korea in January 2014, Jang Song-thaek was not actually executed, contrary to the claims of the North Korean government, and Jang stood behind him in a photo shoot. He reaffirmed his assertion after the magazine asked him to clarify. Rodman also denied reports of the execution of Hyon Song-wol and claimed she was also at the photo shoot; she was later confirmed to still be alive after she appeared on North Korean television. Jeong Chang-chang, director of the Unified Strategy Research Office of the Sejong Institute, made another claim about Jang Song-thaek's continued survival, arguing that no senior officials were present at the time of the purported execution and that Jang Song-thaek was actually placed under house arrest and enjoying the same living conditions as before. ==See also==