Jang Song-thaek

Korean spelling
Chosŏn'gŭl	장성택
Hancha	張成澤
Revised Romanization	Jang Seong-taek
McCune- Reischauer	Chang Sŏngt'aek
See also : Korean name

Jang Song-thaek also Chang Song-Thaek (born February 2, 1946 in Kangwŏn-do ; † December 12, 2013 ) was a North Korean politician . Until December 2013 he was a member of the Politburo of the Labor Party of Korea and deputy chairman of the National Defense Commission. He was stripped of power twice, the first time in 2004 and the second time in December 2013.

Life

Rise and first disempowerment

After attending Kim-Il-sung High School, Jang Song-thaek studied at Moscow's Lomonosov University from 1969 to 1972 . On his return to North Korea, he married Kim Kyŏng-hŭi , the younger sister of Kim Jong-il , in 1972 and became one of the leading officials of the Korean Labor Party . Jang Song-thaek is believed to have played a role during the 1998 famine, as he led the government's “substitute food” efforts to launch desperate measures to overcome food shortages. Inferior substitute materials such as leaves, branches and tree bark were processed into imitated dishes. Observed by observers as a possible successor to Kim, he was removed from his position in the party in 2004 and, according to South Korean intelligence officials, temporarily placed under house arrest. Presumably Kim wanted to clear the way for his own sons.

return

Jang Song-thaek later returned to power. In March 2006, he accompanied Kim Jong-il on an official trip to the People's Republic of China , and in October 2007, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported , citing the North Korean state news agency , that he had been reassigned to the leadership of the Labor Party as vice chairman . His area of ​​responsibility was the country's internal security.

At the beginning of November 2008, the media in South Korea reported, citing North Korea specialists at the “Institute for National Association”, that Jang had de facto taken over the leadership of North Korea instead of Kim Jong-il, who was sick. Assumptions about a change of power at the top of North Korea turned out to be wrong in view of the public appearances of the largely recovered Kim Jong-il.

As part of an extensive government reshuffle, Jang Song-Thaek was elected Deputy Chairman of the National Defense Commission in June 2010 at the third session of the 12th Supreme People's Assembly.

Second disempowerment and execution

In early December 2013, Jang Song-thaek was deposed by his nephew Kim Jong-un , who had become the new ruler after Kim Jong-Il's death in 2011. Several of his closest confidants, namely Ri Yong-ha and Jang Soo-kil, are said to have been publicly executed. On December 9, 2013, the state news agency KCNA confirmed the disempowerment of Jang Song-thaek. He was charged with numerous extramarital love affairs , acts of anti-subversive action, corruption and drug abuse. Jang Song-thaek was removed from office and expelled from the Korean Labor Party. Korean national television showed him being arrested during a Politburo meeting. According to the North Korean media, Jang was executed on December 12, 2013 after a session of the Special Military Tribunal . Media reports describing the manner in which Jang Song-thaeks were executed turned out to be speculations or unsubstantiated journalists' fantasies.

The North Korean leadership had references to the lives of the Jangs deleted from their media archives . He was retouched from the pictures showing him with other North Korean officials.

After the execution of Jang Song-thaek, his wife Kim Kyong Hui also disappeared from the public for years. Surprisingly, Kim Kyong Hui took part in the New Year celebration again six years later in January 2020 together with Ri Sol-ju . Many had suspected or speculated abroad that she had died or had also been executed.

His only daughter with Kim Kyong Hui, Jang Kum-song (1977-2006), studied in Paris, where she committed suicide.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Petra Kolonko: North Korea: The Man Who Never Existed ; Faz.net, December 9, 2013; Retrieved December 14, 2013.
2. ^ Korean Central News Agency : Full text of KCNA announcement on execution of Jang ; northkoreatech.org, December 13, 2013 (English)
3. ^ Bradley K. Martin (2006): Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty , p. 566 ff.
4. ↑ Felix Lee: Power struggle in Pyongyang . In: taz.de from July 17, 2012. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
5. ↑ Barbara Demick: Kim Jong Il purges relative from power, paving way for son ; The Seattle Times / Los Angeles Times , December 9, 2004
6. ↑ Yonhap News Agency : North Korea this week, No. 478 , December 13, 2007
7. ↑ Kim Sue-young: Kim Jong-il's Brother-in-law Plays Bigger Role in N. Korea: Report ; The Korea Times , November 9, 2008
8. ↑ The new Kim is called Chang ; Der Standard , November 11, 2008
9. ↑ Jang Song Thaek Elected NDC Vice-Chairman ( Memento from February 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ); Korean Central News Agency reported June 7, 2010.
10. ↑ Kim disempowered his uncle Jang ; Spiegel Online , December 3, 2013.
11. Jump up ↑ Chang: North Korea humiliates Kim's uncle ; Spiegel Online, December 9, 2013
12. ↑ North Korea confirms the execution of Kim's uncle. In: Handelsblatt . December 13, 2013, accessed December 25, 2014 . 
13. ↑ North Korea TV shows Kim's uncle arrested. Public humiliation. In: Politics. Süddeutsche Zeitung , December 9, 2013, accessed on December 10, 2013 : “He was considered the strong man in the background, but now the leadership in North Korea is not only disempowering Jang Song Thaek, it is actually showing him off. State television shows how the uncle of the ruler Kim is arrested at a meeting of the Politburo. " 
14. ↑ Jonathan Kaiman: Story about Kim Jong-un's uncle being fed to dogs originated with satirist. The Guardian, January 6, 2014, accessed January 27, 2020 . 
15. ↑ North Korea erases online archives . The Guardian, December 17, 2013.
16. ↑ The retouched uncle. Spiegel Online, December 9, 2013, accessed January 27, 2020 . 
17. ^ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's aunt reappears after six years. BBC News, January 26, 2020, accessed January 26, 2020 . 
18. ↑ Andreas Lorenz: Kim and his relatives. In: Spiegel Online . April 12, 2013, accessed December 25, 2014 . 

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Korean. Jang is the family name here, Song-thaek is the first name.