North Korean House of Cards

Pyongyang in 2012, 92 he may have also influenced North Korean
relations with the United States, although this was likely the purview of
Kang Sok-ju, the longtime foreign policy advisor to the Kim family.
Image 4: Jang Song-taek and Kim Jong-un at the April 2013 Eunhasu Concert to mark Kim
Il-sung’s birthday, the Day of the Sun. (Source: KCTV)
At the Fourth Party Conference, Jang Song-taek was elevated from
alternate member to full member of the Politburo. He was also a
Vice Chairman of the NDC, as well as the Director of the KWP
Administrative Department, which oversees the organizations responsible
for internal security. He reportedly oversaw one of the largest and most
diverse patronage systems within the North Korean leadership.
• Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae (65) was the junior member of the
regents surrounding Kim Jong-un. 93 His role was to ensure the loyalty
92 Ken Dilanian and Barbara Demick, “Secret U.S.-North Korea diplomatic trips reported,” Los
Angeles Times, February 23, 2013.
93 Cheong Seong-Chang, “The Importance of Choi Ryong Hae,” Daily NK, August 19, 2013,
http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk03600&num=10804. In a system where blood lines
and familial heritage are of great importance, Choe Ryong-hae’s high status stems from his connection to
the anti-Japanese partisan revolutionary line, which is superseded in importance only by the Mt. Paektu
line of the Kim family itself. Therefore, in order to understand Choe’s status in the North Korean regime,
one must look at the relationship between the Choe and Kim families. Choe’s family has a long-time
relationship with the Kim dynasty. Choe’s father, Choe Hyun, who died in 1982, was a friend of North
Ken E. Gause
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