hankyoreh

students at Kim Chaek University of Technology in Pyongyang listen to an address and cheer in support of leader Kim Jong-un after the ouster of former Workers’ Party of Korea administrative department head Jang Song-thaek. (Yonhap News)

By Choi Hyun-june, staff reporter

It is being suggested that the ouster of Jang Song-thaek, former Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) administrative department head, came about when the original power base in North Korea, the direct descendants of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung (known as the Baekdu line) and the descendants of the guerillas that fought the Japanese (called princelings), moved to check the power that Jang had been gathering since the death of Kim Jong-il.

An anonymous source who is well-informed about what is happening in North Korea told the Hankyoreh on Dec. 11 that Jang was removed from power when the Baekdu line, or Kim Il-sung’s descendants, and the princelings, or descendants of the partisans who fought the Japanese, came together to remove Jang’s influence. This source said that the purge looks very much like infighting.

The chief figure in the Baekdu line is North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, while the main person in the princelings is Choe Ryong-hae, chief of the military’s political bureau and son of former defense minister Choe Hyon.

The descendants of Kim Il-sung and the anti-Japanese guerilla fighters have formed the main concentrations of power in North Korea since the government was established, and as such they have had a close relationship. The suggestion is that the purge represents cooperation between these two groups to strip Jang of his influence. Jang had been accumulating power inside the North Korean ruling class for nearly forty years despite not being part of the traditional power structure.

North Korea has been emphasizing the bloodlines of Kim Il-sung and the resistance fighters even more since the hereditary succession of Kim Jong-un, the third generation of the ruling dynasty. This also corresponds with the perspective of the Ministry of Unification and many other experts who believe that Jang’s ouster is part of the process by which Kim Jong-un hopes to consolidate a single-ruler regime in the North.

“Jang had been separated from his wife Kim Kyong-hui for quite some time. His power derived from the fact that his wife was Kim Il-sung’s daughter, but later he maintained this power without any regard for his wife,” the source said. This suggests that, as the purge indicates, Kim Kyoung-hui was no longer able to protect Jang.

“Since the purge was focused on curbing the influence of Jang Song-thaek, Pyongyang will probably not discontinue or change any major policies,” the source predicted. This analysis diverges from the general expectation that the North’s relations with South Korea and other countries could break down. To support this claim, the source mentioned that North Korea had agreed to investment in the Chinese city of Tumen and in the Onseong and Gangryeong development areas on Dec. 9 and that investors in Hong Kong and Singapore had not taken their money out of the North.

The source identified Kim Sul-song, the eldest daughter of Kim Jong-il and half-sister of Kim Jong-un, as the mastermind behind the purge. “As the vice director of the Organization and Guidance Department of the WPK’s central committee, Kim Sul-song, who was born in 1974, is in effective control of the party,” the source said. “While people believe that Choe Ryong-hae will become the number two person in North Korea following Jang’s ouster, it is actually Kim Sul-song’s husband who is in charge of the army’s budget and appointments.”

While Kim Sul-song has never held an official title in North Korea, she was doted on by her father Kim Jong-il. Some people even say he once considered naming her as his successor. For the past few years, papers in England, Russia, and other countries have identified Kim Sul-song as a powerful figure in the North, and this year some South Korean papers have also described her as “the person that moves North Korea.”

Nevertheless, the South Korean government is cautious in its assessment of Kim Sul-song. “Kim Sul-song does not have an official title, and she did not even appear at Kim Il-jong’s funeral. It would be rash to regard her as having a high position,” said a senior Ministry of Unification official on condition of anonymity.

“There are a lot of rumors going around about the reason for Jang’s ouster, but it probably cannot be explained by one theory alone. I think that several factors were working together. It is clear that this was a measure to strengthen Kim Jong-un’s bid to become the sole ruler of North Korea,” said another official, also on condition of anonymity.

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