Kim Ill Sung Institute for General Discussion on the DPRK.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

News.
Jang Sung-taek, wife of Kim Jong Ill's sister and a close advisor and mentor to Kim Jong Un has been removed from his post and executed for anti-party crimes, apparently. I have not seen the reports of Sung-taek's execution anywhere else besides the Sun Sentinal

Link to New York Times Article here.

This is a rather interesting turn of events. I'm quite surprised and rather impressed at Kim Jong Un's political savvy. Two years ago I thought he would have been overthrown by now.

[Zanas]

Jang Sung-taek, wife of Kim Jong Ill's sister and a close advisor and mentor to Kim Jong Un has been removed from his post and executed for anti-party crimes, apparently. I have not seen the reports of Sung-taek's execution anywhere else besides the Sun Sentinal

Link to New York Times Article here.

This is a rather interesting turn of events. I'm quite surprised and rather impressed at Kim Jong Un's political savvy. Two years ago I thought he would have been overthrown by now.

I didn't know North Korea had legalized same sex marriage. FF !

[Beezer]

Another death by mortar? I suppose he's in a better place now along with excellent horse-like lady.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

The KCNA announced he was executed today. I saw a report that stated his ailing wife (Kim Jong Ill's sister), who has long been estranged from him, helped to engineer his downfall.

He was also arrested during a live TV broadcast of a Workers Party meeting.

[Beet]

This is scary. Jang was supposed to be the voice of reason within the regime. Northeast Asia seems to have gone off the deep end, in general.

[Beet]

The announcement refers to a lease North Korea signed with China over the Rason economic zone in June 2011 as "an act of treachery".

[Beet]

The announcement accuses Jang of being a "reformist" ideologically aligned with the West. If only he had succeeded!

[Beezer]

Good account of his crimes on KCNA:

Traitor Jang Song Thaek Executed

Upon hearing the report on the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, the service personnel and people throughout the country broke into angry shouts that a stern judgment of the revolution should be meted out to the anti-party, counter-revolutionary factional elements. Against the backdrop of these shouts rocking the country, a special military tribunal of the DPRK Ministry of State Security was held on December 12 against traitor for all ages Jang Song Thaek.
    
The accused Jang brought together undesirable forces and formed a faction as the boss of a modern day factional group for a long time and thus committed such hideous crime as attempting to overthrow the state by all sorts of intrigues and despicable methods with a wild ambition to grab the supreme power of our party and state.
    
The tribunal examined Jang's crimes.
    
All the crimes committed by the accused were proved in the course of hearing and were admitted by him.

A decision of the special military tribunal of the Ministry of State Security of the DPRK was read out at the trial.

Every sentence of the decision served as sledge-hammer blow brought down by our angry service personnel and people on the head of Jang, an anti-party, counter-revolutionary factional element and despicable political careerist and trickster.
 
The accused is a traitor to the nation for all ages who perpetrated anti-party, counter-revolutionary factional acts in a bid to overthrow the leadership of our party and state and the socialist system.

Jang was appointed to responsible posts of the party and state thanks to the deep political trust of President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il and received benevolence from them more than any others from long ago.

He held higher posts than before and received deeper trust from supreme leader Kim Jong Un, in particular.

The political trust and benevolence shown by the peerlessly great men of Mt. Paektu were something he hardly deserved.

It is an elementary obligation of a human being to repay trust with sense of obligation and benevolence with loyalty.
  
However, 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.
  
From long ago, Jang had a dirty political ambition. He dared not raise his head when Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il were alive. But, reading their faces, Jang had an axe to grind and involved himself in double-dealing. He began revealing his true colors, thinking that it was just the time for him to realize his wild ambition in the period of historic turn when the generation of the revolution was replaced.
    
Jang committed such an unpardonable thrice-cursed treason as overtly and covertly standing in the way of settling the issue of succession to the leadership with an axe to grind when a very important issue was under discussion to hold respected Kim Jong Un in high esteem as the only successor to Kim Jong Il in reflection of the unanimous desire and will of the entire party and army and all people.
  
When his cunning move proved futile and the decision that Kim Jong Un was elected vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea at the Third Conference of the WPK in reflection of the unanimous will of all party members, service personnel and people was proclaimed, making all participants break into enthusiastic cheers that shook the conference hall, he behaved so arrogantly and insolently as unwillingly standing up from his seat and half-heartedly clapping, touching off towering resentment of our service personnel and people. :ohno:
    
Jang confessed that he behaved so at that time as a knee-jerk reaction as he thought that if Kim Jong Un's base and system for leading the army were consolidated, this would lay a stumbling block in the way of grabbing the power of the party and state.

When Kim Jong Il passed away so suddenly and untimely to our sorrow, he began working in real earnest to realize its long-cherished greed for power.

Abusing the honor of often accompanying Kim Jong Un during his field guidance, Jang tried hard to create illusion about him by projecting himself internally and externally as a special being on a par with the headquarters of the revolution.

In a bid to rally a group of reactionaries to be used by him for toppling the leadership of the party and state, he let 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 kowtowing to him work in a department of the Central Committee of the WPK and organs under it in a crafty manner.
 
Jang did serious harm to the youth movement in our country, being part of the group of renegades and traitors in the field of youth work bribed by enemies. Even after they were disclosed and purged by the resolute measure of the party, he patronized those cat's paws and let them hold important posts of the party and state.

http://kcna.kp/kcna.user.article.retrieveNewsViewInfoList.kcmsf#this

[Silent Hunter]

Another death by mortar? I suppose he's in a better place now along with excellent horse-like lady.

Machine gun apparently.

[minionofmidas]

They didn't broadcast the execution live?

[Stranger in a strange land]

The extreme language in the KCNA statement, as well as the fact that Jang was executed rather than simply stripped of his positions and/or forcibly retired, shows that he wasn't merely pushed aside in an internal power struggle, and that this isn't merely a case of Kim Jong Un asserting himself to consolidate his hold on power, but that Jang was actually a real threat to Kim Jong Un. We may never know what he actually did, but my guess is that a coup was either attempted or afoot.

The announcement accuses Jang of being a "reformist" ideologically aligned with the West. If only he had succeeded!

Remember that in North Korea that's pretty much the worst thing you can say about somebody, so who knows if that part is actually true: it may just have been piled on to his other crimes.

[Beet]

A list of those attending the funeral of a high ranking apparatchik. We can assume the below have NOT been purged (as of yet):



Among those are Jang Song thaek's ex wife, Kim Kyong Hui. She is reported to be in ill health, however.

Pak Pong Ju was in tears while denouncing Jang Song thaek.

Choe Ryong Hae is practically the only high ranking military general left. But even he was too afraid to arrest Jang Song thaek.

Jang Jong Nam is reported to have played a role in a 2010 North Korean attack on a South Korean ship.

[Beet]

North Korea has recalled all economic workers from China, announced a new nuclear test (one of the final steps towards warhead miniaturization), announced a new long range rocket test, and dropped leaflets on a South Korean Island saying that North Korea would attack this island first. This is not good.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

North Korea has recalled all economic workers from China, announced a new nuclear test (one of the final steps towards warhead miniaturization), announced a new long range rocket test, and dropped leaflets on a South Korean Island saying that North Korea would attack this island first. This is not good.

We've only had one near war earlier this year, so it is only natural for the annual Fall/Winter crisis to occur as well.

[DINGO Joe]

It's all cool, Rodman is back in town.

http://news.yahoo.com/rodman-nkorea-prep-game-leader-39-bday-115402264--spt.html

[Stranger in a strange land]

It's all cool, Rodman is back in town.

http://news.yahoo.com/rodman-nkorea-prep-game-leader-39-bday-115402264--spt.html

What if the team Rodman is coaching loses?

[Cory]

Machine gun apparently.

And flamethrower, supposedly.

[Beet]

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/20/21980066-north-korea-sends-fax-threatening-to-strike-south-korea-without-notice-report

[Beezer]

A sustainable and environmentally conscious way of executing someone:

Kim Jong Un's executed uncle was eaten alive by 120 hungry dogs: report

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/03/22156917-kim-jong-uns-executed-uncle-was-eaten-alive-by-120-hungry-dogs-report

[Nhoj]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/01/03/no-kim-jong-un-probably-didnt-feed-his-uncle-to-120-hungry-dogs/

[Beet]

It's pretty creepy how no one here actually gives a sh**t about North Korea but everyone wants to use it for "crazy" porn.

[Indy Texas]

More "crazy porn" - the Vice documentary on visiting North Korea...

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24R8JObNNQ4
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw46Ll-Zy4s
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HJj85K_7MQ

[Beet]

More "crazy porn" - the Vice documentary on visiting North Korea...

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24R8JObNNQ4
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw46Ll-Zy4s
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HJj85K_7MQ

The problem with always and only laughing at North Korea is that it's dehumanizing. It fails to see that if you're living it, it isn't just a joke or farce or a place to laugh at on YouTube for a few hours. It's your life. I mean, it was funny the first time - but when I notice on these threads that no one ever posts any real discussion except for Chairman Sanchez - 90% of the time it's me talking to myself - the only time anyone ever comes into here is to post some over the top ridiculous triviality - it's gets tiring. The fact that Americans pretty much can only see North Korea in such farcial terms - it's even made it into cinema - is just another example of how we fetishize and one-dimensionalize other cultures. And that might have even been harmless if you think North Korea is fundamentally harmless to people outside that country, but after last Spring's Crisis I no longer think it is.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I'm curious from whom, if anybody, Kim is thought to be taking significant advice post-Jang.

[Joe Republic]

More "crazy porn" - the Vice documentary on visiting North Korea...

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24R8JObNNQ4
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw46Ll-Zy4s
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HJj85K_7MQ

The problem with always and only laughing at North Korea is that it's dehumanizing. It fails to see that if you're living it, it isn't just a joke or farce or a place to laugh at on YouTube for a few hours. It's your life. I mean, it was funny the first time - but when I notice on these threads that no one ever posts any real discussion except for Chairman Sanchez - 90% of the time it's me talking to myself - the only time anyone ever comes into here is to post some over the top ridiculous triviality - it's gets tiring. The fact that Americans pretty much can only see North Korea in such farcial terms - it's even made it into cinema - is just another example of how we fetishize and one-dimensionalize other cultures.

Okay?  What would you like us to do about North Korea?  Write our congressmen?

Everybody here knows the DPRK government is the worst in the world.  But when there's little to nothing anybody can do about it, all we have left is to ridicule the utterly absurd propaganda they churn out in a vain attempt to cover up their Holocaust-like atrocities.

And that might have even been harmless if you think North Korea is fundamentally harmless to people outside that country, but after last Spring's Crisis I no longer think it is.

Yeah, I remember your epic freak-out pretty well.  Not as amusing as your virtual guarantee that Sarah Palin would be the 2012 GOP nominee, but by all means please continue the Chicken Little routine regardless.