North Korean House of Cards

system of socialism.” 273 For many Pyongyang-watchers, this latter revision validated
the transformation in the hierarchy of power from Party-government-military that
existed under Kim Il-sung to the current Party-military-government.
As discussed earlier, the assumptions of this system, namely that the “Leader”
(Suryong) would have years of grooming and preparation before assuming power,
were dealt with through the creation of a regent system around Kim Jong-un. For
nearly two years, this kept the system functioning as the young leader was educated on
the finer points of governing a regime that has often been referred to as a “gangster
state,” where power is highly dependent on securing and leveraging relationships.
With the sudden purge of Jang Song-taek and the disappearance of Kim Kyong-hui,
the Pyongyang-watching community was faced with fundamental questions: had
the Suryong system been discarded? Was Kim Jong-un the Supreme Leader or
nothing more than a puppet? The answers to these questions are fundamental to
understanding the long-term stability of the regime.
b. Has the Suryong System Collapsed?
Within months of Jang Song-taek’s purge, a series of articles appeared in the
defector-run media arguing that a coup had occurred inside the Hermit Kingdom. An
alliance of anti-Jang forces headed by the KWP OGD had supposedly become the
power behind the throne, making Kim Jong-un little more than a puppet. 274 If true,
North Korea is no longer ruled by a single individual, but a collective group of leaders
from different institutions, particularly the OGD, military, and internal security
apparatus. This would spell the end of the Suryong system and have implications for
how the regime is ruled.
The KWP OGD undoubtedly could be considered a victor with the removal
of Jang Song-taek. There is a good deal of circumstantial evidence to suggest that the
OGD and military were actively engaged in a political struggle with Jang Song-taek
and the KWP Administrative Department in the final year of Kim Jong-il’s life. In
December 2011, the publication of the former OGD First Vice Director, and
adversary of Jang, Ri Je-gang’s book, Reflecting the Times of Strengthening Purity of
the Revolutionary Organization, signaled to the larger leadership that the struggle that
existed around the succession in the early 2000s had returned. The signals continued
throughout 2012 with the idolization of Ko Yong-hui, Kim Jong-un’s mother and
273 Korean Workers’ Party (KWP) Charter [Jo-seon ro-dong-dang gyu-yak], September 28, 2010, as
published in North Korea Tech, January 22, 2011.
274 “Exclusive: ‘Kim Jong-un is a Puppet’ in the Eyes of North Korean Elite,” New Focus International,
March 7, 2014.
Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
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