Former Top Official Says Kim Jong-Un Is No Longer In Control Of North Korea

[Flashermac]

An elite group of exiles from North Korea gathered in September in the Netherlands to discuss the state of the regime they used to serve. The conference included top diplomats, an ex-senior official of the Ministry of Security, and a high-ranking military officer, but the keynote address was given by Jang Jin-sung, formerly a key member of Kim Jong-il's propaganda machine. Included in Jang's speech was a surprising assertion: North Korea is in the midst of a civil war.

 

According to Jang — a former counterintelligence official and poet laureate under Kim Jong-il — members of the government's Organization and Guidance Department (OGD), a powerful group of officials that once reported only to Kim Jong-il, have stopped taking orders from his son, Kim Jong-un. The OGD, Jang says, has effectively taken control of the country, and a conflict is simmering between factions that want to maintain absolute control over the economy and others seeking to gain wealth through foreign trade and a slightly more open market.

 

"On one hand, it's people who want to maintain a regime monopoly," Jang told VICE News through a translator in an interview Thursday. "On the other hand, it's not like people are fighting against the regime, but in a policy sense they want to take advantage to get influence. It's not actually consciously civil war, but there are these two incompatible forces at play."

 

Jang's statements come during a moment of peak curiosity about the hermit kingdom. Kim Jong-un — the portly 31-year-old who assumed the title of Supreme Leader after his father's death in 2011 — has been absent from public view for nearly a month. He was last seen walking with a pronounced limp during a July ceremony commemorating the death of his grandfather, Kim Il-sung. He typically presides over the Supreme People's Assembly, a rubber-stamp parliament, but missed the meeting in early September, and was replaced by a propaganda video that again showed him limping. "Despite some discomfort, our Marshal continues to come out and lead the people," the film's narrator said.

 

Rumors abound about the cause of his absence, including a report from South Korea's Chosun Ilbo that he recently underwent surgery after fracturing both of his ankles "during a grueling tour of military bases and factories in Cuban heels." The South Korean news agency Yonhap cited anonymous sources saying that Kim, a heavy smoker who has become markedly plump since assuming the role of dictator, is "suffering from gout, along with hyperuricemia, hyperlipidemia, obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure."

 

Whatever the cause, Kim Jong-un's absence has sparked another round of speculation about the stability of the North Korean regime and what will happen to the country if the young dictator dies or becomes deposed. Rumors of a coup spread quickly earlier this week on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, followed quickly by a stern denial from China, the regime's chief ally. A US State Department spokeswoman told reporters Monday that the coup reports are unconfirmed.

 

Jang, however, believes the coup actually happened in 2013, and says Kim Jong-un is only serving as a puppet leader with officials from the OGD pulling the strings. After going into exile, Jang became a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy in Seoul, and authored a memoir, Dear Leader, about his time serving Kim Jong-il. Jang is also the founder and publisher of New Focus International, an independent outlet for North Korea news and analysis. Combined with his knowledge of the inner-workings of North Korean bureaucracy, Jang says he maintains contact with sources inside the regime that provide him with current information.

 

According to Jang, the coup coincided with the execution of Jang Sung-taek, Kim Jong-un's uncle by marriage. A longtime political rival of the OGD but considered untouchable because of his family ties to Kim Jong-il, Jang Sung-taek was officially charged with "consolidating his own power with factional maneuvering" and selling off state resources at below market value for personal profit. He was summarily purged last December, and a popular but false rumor had him being eaten alive by dogs.

 

"When Jang Sung-taek was executed that was, basically, that totally broke everything," Jang said. "You just can't touch a Kim family member publicly… It's the OGD's claim to legitimacy. It's them saying no one is more legitimate than them. By Jang dying, Kim Jong-un is now surrounded by the OGD."

 

Jang's New Focus International reported on the "coup" in December and dissected the politics that were at play. According to the New Focus International report, the OGD has exercised virtual control over North Korea since its foundation by Kim Jong-il in the early 1990s. Other members of the government and the military became "honorary power holders and proxies," while "the men who exercised power on behalf of Kim Jong-il remained behind the scenes through the parallel OGD structure then as now." It described Kim Jong-un as "the avatar of the Kim family cult," and, "the legitimizing face of a state ruled by [the] OGD."

 

Remco Breuker, a professor of Korean Studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands, which hosted the conference of elite North Korean exiles in September, says Jang isn't the only former senior regime official to suggest that the OGD is a shadow government that rules behind the scenes with Kim Jong-un as a figurehead.

 

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https://news.vice.com/article/former-top-official-says-kim-jong-un-is-no-longer-in-control-of-north-korea

[Flashermac]

What will Dennis Rodman think?

[Coss]

Rodman will mourn the passing of the free trips and the publicity.

[waerth]

The last thing the world needs, on top of our other current crisis (Ebola, Isis, Ukraine, Chinese belligerence) is a North Korea in civil war.

 

2014 is proving to be a very shitty year

[unit731]

Get to the bottom line.

 

Should I cancel my tourist trip to North Korea?

[Mekong]

Or should I cancel my Business trip to Seoul on Monday?

 

Seoul is only 35 Miles South of the 38th Parallel aka the DMZ

[Flashermac]

Get to the bottom line.

 

Should I cancel my tourist trip to North Korea?

 

 

Just don't wear your VFW cap and RVN ribbons.

[Coss]

Will this affect ST / LT prices in Pyongyang ?

[Guest]

A fathers wishes .... was it the right choice

 

Rejected by his father as a successor more than 10 years ago, Kim Jong-nam reportedly talked about the buildup of his brother while expressing misgivings. Mr. Kim reportedly told the Tokyo Shimbun in an e-mail that he expected “the existing ruling elite to follow in the footsteps of my father while keeping the young successor as a symbolic figure."