Women power in ‘Empire of Horror’

London

In the scant collection of carefully staged photos that emerged from North Korea, Jang Song-thaek was everywhere. At the funeral of Kim Jong-il, marching directly behind Kim Jong-un, the newly anointed Dear Leader; on an escalator, visiting a shopping centre to glorify the triumph of the regime; dressed in the uniform of a full general whispering words of wisdom into the ear of the world’s youngest head of state.

Now Jang, Kim’s uncle and one of North Korea’s most powerful men, has been erased. North Korea confirmed his execution last Thursday. The 30-year-old Kim, it appeared, was demonstrating in no uncertain terms who really ran the show. But another tantalising suggestion is crystallising. Was Jang’s death by firing squad in fact a sign that the real power behind the throne lies with the two women in Kim’s life?

“The final decision on Jang Song-thaek’s ouster was made by Kim Jong-un and Jang’s wife, Kim Kyung-hui,” said Lee Yun-keol, head of the North Korea Strategic Information Service Centre, based in Seoul.

Chosen prey

“Jang was chosen as a prey by his wife and nephew to maintain the Kim dynasty regime.” Kim, 67, is a force to be reckoned with — daughter of the country’s first leader, sister of its second, and aunt of its third.

A Rosa Klebb-like figure, she went into communist politics early and defied her father, the Eternal President of the Republic, Kim Il-sung, to marry Jang. The pair had met at university in the capital, Pyongyang, and continued their relationship, following him to Moscow where they both studied. They were married in 1972, and went on to have a daughter, Jang Kum-song. But on leaving Pyongyang to study in Paris, their daughter refused to return, and committed suicide in 2006 when her parents did not accept her boyfriend.

Kim had by then held a number of senior positions within the regime — a general in the army, head of the “organisation and guidance department,” and ruler of a key economic policy unit. She also bears the distinction of owning North Korea’s first hamburger restaurant, the Samtaeseong Diner — although, with hamburgers considered American and degenerate, they are marketed as “minced meat and bread”.

She kept a low profile for decades until 2009, when she began appearing with her brother during “on-the-spot guidance” trips nationwide. Two years later, the couple were all-powerful, with both Jang and Kim supporting their nephew as he took the reins of power.

“Jang is clearly someone whose major task on behalf of the Kim family is to guide and shepherd Kim Jong-un, and to insulate and protect him,” said Stephen Bosworth, former US special envoy to North Korea, at the time.

“His role is to help him ward off assaults on the authority of the family.” But he was also a known womaniser, fond of a drink and indeed purged once before, in 2004, as a result of his hard-living.

State media accused him of leading a “dissolute, depraved life” and running up £6.4 million (Dh38.44 million) in gambling debts.

“He let the decadent capitalist lifestyle find its way to our society by distributing all sorts of pornographic pictures among his confidants,” the chargesheet said. Did Kim simply get fed up by Jang’s wild ways? She has been dogged by rumours of ill health —some suggested she was an alcoholic — but her influence was undeniable.

And the execution of her husband, some analysts say, would only have been possible with the blessing of Kim — described in The Atlantic as “just as hard-edged and vindictive as her older brother ever was.”

Kim Jong-un’s pretty young wife, Ri Sol-ju, is also thought to be exerting increasing influence — including the assassination of rivals. Despite her dainty appearance, the Dear Leader’s wife is thought to be equally as strong — even ruthless — an influence on Kim Jong-un. She was apparently introduced to him by his aunt, and the pair wed around three years ago.

But in August, members of a musical troop of which she was once a member, the Unhasu Orchestra, were wiretapped and heard saying: “In the past, Ri Sol-ju used to play around in the same manner as we did.”

Who’s next?

The regime — and by extension, Ri — were unamused. “This is an unpardonable, hideous provocation hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership,” said the North Korean state news agency. “Those who commit such a hideous crime will have to pay a very high price.”

Ri had to have her reputation intact — and so the nine members of the orchestra were arrested, and executed by machine gun three days later, with their families forced to watch.

One of the executed singers was Hyon Song-wol, reportedly a former girlfriend of Kim Jong-un. She was forced by his father to end the relationship and instead went on to marry an officer in the military.

The country’s infamous prison camps, where an estimated 200,000 people are held in conditions of medieval barbarity, are thought to be expanding, while earlier this month, South Korea’s head of national intelligence said that the number of public executions had rocketed — rising from 17 last year to more than 40 now.

The latest purge prompted Carl Bildt, Sweden’s foreign minister, to dub Kim’s regime “the empire of horror”.

Predicting what comes next in this very public internal power play is notoriously difficult. Some have speculated that in fact Kim herself could be next for the purge.

—The Telegraph Group Ltd, London 2013