hankyoreh

North Korea is attempting to consolidate the absolute rule of leader Kim Jong-un with its justifications of the sudden execution of Workers’ Party of Korea administrative department director Jang Song-thaek. Kim has been going about his business just as before, acting as though the execution is no big deal.

The main argument that Pyongyang uses to underscore Kim’s legitimacy as leader has to do with his bloodline. The WPK’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper has written, “No human being under the heavens with blood other than the Leader’s [Kim Il-sung] has even air to breathe.” It has said that anyone who dares to challenge the leader should be punished without hesitation - even a blood relative. All this argument does is show that North Korea is still a backwards country that has yet to move beyond the mind-set of the age of dynasties. It’s also an example of the politics of terror - the idea that anyone who is not Kim Jong-un could be put to death at any time. No country, not even one that codifies dictatorship in its constitution, can establish its legitimacy through acts of brutal violence. This is one reason North Korea must put an end to the bloody purge that is now being waged against Jang’s supporters.

It is likely that the Kim regime is going to try leveraging economic growth to cement its legitimacy. A look at the judgment against Jang shows how deeply involved he was in the country’s economic cooperation projects. Pyongyang may be thinking of keeping these projects in place, or even expanding them. It may also want to promote other reforms and openness measures more actively through the Cabinet. But these attempts are unlikely to do much if the country can’t do anything about the international community’s recoiling from the regime. Even China, which is officially calling Jang’s execution an “internal matter for North Korea,” is not especially motivated to expand its economic cooperation in the North. The ongoing reign of terror, and the regime instability that it causes, will only serve to hinder economic improvements.

Most people are predicting that North Korea‘s foreign relations for the time being will be frosty to say the least. This makes complete sense, if we consider that military hardliners seem to be gaining strength in the regime. Some are already predicting that if the regime doesn’t feel fully secure, it could try some kind of provocation to build solidarity. That would be the worst possible choice, not least for Pyongyang itself. This is a moment that calls for North Korea to be even more focused on improving foreign relations than it was before. This is still another reason the politics of terror must be stopped.

It‘s still not clear just why Kim decided to have Jang executed. One obvious possibility is that Kim and the other rulers felt threatened as Jang’s power increased. If the Kim regime truly feels that the politics of terror is the only way to respond to this paradox, it can expect a cold reception from the rest of the global village.

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