North Korean House of Cards

B. CHAPTER TWO: THE PURGE OF
JANG SONG-TAEK AND THE DESTRUCTION
OF THE REGENT STRUCTURE
While the regent structure appeared solidly in place in 2012, as shown by the
apparent engineering of the removal of Ri Yong-ho, the following year revealed some
cracks in the edifice of power around Kim Jong-un. 99 As the year progressed, outside
media began to focus on Jang Song-taek’s declining presence at Kim’s guidance inspections
at a time when Choe Ryong-hae was on the rise. 100 Another story centered on
Kim Kyong-hui’s disappearance from the public spotlight. Although the media treated
these two stories in isolation, a much bigger story was unfolding behind the scenes in
Pyongyang that would eventually lead to a transformation in how the regime is run.
1. The Seeds of Jang’s Demise
The succession of power from Kim Jong-il to Kim Jong-un did not begin
in 2008 with Kim Jong-il’s announcement of his decision on his heir to Kim
Kyong-hui and Jang Song-taek. In fact, it began six years earlier when Kim Jong-il’s
wife at the time, Ko Yong-hui, and her supporters began plotting a co-regency
similar to the one that had paved Kim Jong-il’s rise to power. In 2001, Kim Jong-il’s
first son, Kim Jong-nam, was expelled from Japan and publicly disgraced. A year
later, an idolization campaign began to take shape inside the regime around Ko
Yong-hui. 101 The campaign to construct a cult of personality around the “respected
mother” was engineered by elements within the high command and the KWP
OGD, namely Ri Je-gang and Ri Yong-chol, both of whom were close to Ko and
fierce opponents of Jang Song-taek. While Jang and his wife, Kim Kyong-hui, were
close to Kim Jong-nam, Ko’s allies led an effort to inaugurate a succession centered
on her children, most notably Kim Jong-chol. By 2004, the political space around
Kim Jong-il was dominated by those close to Ko Yong-hui. 102
99 Unlike his father, Kim Jong-un did not have decades of experience in running the regime.
Many Pyongyang-watchers believed he would need a regent structure around him for at least another year
or two until he managed to consolidate his power, probably in the late 2014 to 2015 timeframe.
100 Lee Mi-Young and Park Seong-Guk, “Defector Claims Jang-Choi in Military Battle,” op. cit.
Choe Ryong-hae accompanied Kim Jong-un on his site visits more often than any other official in the first
half of 2013. During this period, he appeared at seventy-two out of ninety-five such public appearances.
Conversely, Jang, who appeared the most in 2012, appeared only twenty-five times in the first half of 2013.
101 Ken E. Gause, North Korea Under Kim Chong-il: Power, Politics, and Prospects for Change
(Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2011).
102 This became clear when Jang Song-taek disappeared, apparently purged and sent off for reeducation
after attending a wedding ceremony of one of his protégés in violation of regime rules that
Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
46