NK NEWS BRIEF | December 11, 2013

In an image taken from North Korean television, Jang Song-taek is shown being taken from a meeting of the Workers’ Party by guards. Video of his arrest was broadcast on Monday. | Image: Yonhap

JANG SONG-TAEK PURGE

• JST was formally removed from office and expelled from the KWP during a recent KWP meeting. Unlike many other previous purges, Jang’s dismissal was very public and broadcast on NK state media. The KCNA statement said that Jang’s “crimes” included “such anti-party, counter-revolutionary factional acts as gnawing at the unity and cohesion of the party and disturbing the work for establishing the party unitary leadership system… Jang pretended to uphold the party and leader but was engrossed in such factional acts as dreaming different dreams and involving himself in double-dealing behind the scene.” KCTV report (video).

• NFI analysis: “The reality of Kim Jong Un’s era is that the rivalries overseen by Kim Jong Il in the manner of a divide-and-conquer strategy have been playing out; at present, the OGD has come out dominant and Kim Jong Un has lost an option of power.”

• JST has been edited out of a documentary and photoshopped out of pictures where he was seen beside KJU. The KCNA website also deleted, then mysteriously reinstated old reports on Jang.

• NK News: While KJU’s August and September visits were mainly to locations of economic significance or special projects, the focus of appearances in October and November was on the military. Kim Kyong-hui did not make any public appearances with KJU in October or November, while JST featured with KJU just 3 times in October and no times in November.

• Kim Song Ho, a former cadre affiliated with the notorious “Office 39” of the Party, spoke to Daily NK on the 5th, saying, “Jang Sung Taek was kept in check by Kim Jong Il when he was in power. As a result he didn’t have much sway with the military; but he was able to start planting his people in organs like the National Security Agency and Ministry of People’s Security. These people will be really anxious following Jang’s elimination, and are likely to keep a low profile.”

• Daily NK: NKoreans in North Hamkyung Province react to JST’s dismissal.

NK INTERNAL

• The Rodong Sinmun has started referring to KJU as the “Dear Leader,” a term once reserved for KJI. The Rodong Sinmun has also stepped up its propaganda in the wake of JST’s ouster to shore up regime stability.

• Regional KWP officials have been called to PY for unstated reasons. The regime may want to use this meeting to eliminate officials loyal to JST, according to sources.

• KCNA published photographs of Choe Ryong-hae and Pak Pong-ju, both high ranking officials, attending public outings around the time of JST’s purge. The Daily NK suggests that the photographs are intended to imply the regime’s stability despite JST’s ouster.

• Daily NK: Border security and public criticisms of JST have spiked. However, most people are more concerned with whether or not “the authorities will beef up restrictions against market activity.”

ECONOMY & FOOD SECURITY

• NK/SK held working-level talks to facilitate transit and set up internet connectivity at the KIC.

• NK is cracking down on SK imports, making business for traders increasingly difficult.

• The number of skilled NKorean workers in Russia has jumped to 762, a 2.8-fold jump in the first nine months of this year compared to 2012.

• Cathcart: Through Masik, the state is allowed to preen itself as modern and even potentially reformist, reminding outsiders of Kim Jong-un’s Swiss background, without in any way obligating itself to do anything resembling structural change.

• AP: A look at Rason suggests that — even with top-level support for the zone — NK is not so desperate to revive its moribund economy that it will risk major changes that might jeopardize the political status quo.

• WFP: Food is the largest expense for households in NK, with 43% of expenditures going to food. Out of the 105 households surveyed, “the majority (93 percent) of the visited counties reported that food security was better currently than in July 2012.”

• Yonhap: “Multiple sources” report that NK has begun to sell large amounts of gold to China.

REFUGEES

• Reuters: A former aide to JST fled NK about two months ago and is seeking asylum to SK. For now, the man is reportedly being protected by SKorean officials in a secret location in China. The ROKG however has denied knowledge of any such asylum request.

• PGH: “North Koreans who have risked their lives to find freedom and are now embraced by the Republic of Korea are undergoing hardships in our society.” PGH expressed her support for programs that aid NKoreans’ adjustment to life in SK.

HUMAN RIGHTS

• Merrill Newman arrived back home in California last Saturday. The decision to free Newman came after he read an apology for his actions during the Korean War on state television. US Vice President Joe Biden offered Newman a flight home on Air Force Two, but Newman declined and opted for the more expedient commercial flight. During his detention in NK, Newman stayed in a hotel room, not a prison, and ate plenty of traditional Korean food. Despite being kept in the country against his will, he said he was comfortable during his detention. Newman on his videotaped apology: “Anyone who knows me knows that I could not have done the things they had me ‘confess’ to.”

• Amnesty International: Camp 15 and Camp 16 are adding new housing blocks, expanding their facilities, and tightening their security. Camp 16 is approximately three times the size of Washington D.C.

• Ri Su-yong, KJI’s former personal representative and associate of JST, has been executed, according to a Japanese periodical. Ri was KJU’s guardian during his time in Switzerland.

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS & SECURITY

• NYT: NK has deployed more attack helicopters and rockets near a disputed western sea border with SK, raising fears that NK might be planning a provocation to deflect attention from reports of an internal power struggle.

• Zhu Feng, Peking University: “Jang was a very iconic figure in North Korea, particularly with economic reform and innovation… He is the man China counted on to move the economy in North Korea. This is a very ominous signal.”

• ICG’s latest report examines why China keeps NK so close, despite NK’s nuclear activities and provocative rhetoric.

• World Bank President suggested NK take notice of Myanmar’s push towards democracy and follow its example.

ANALYSIS & OPINION

• Victor Cha on JST: First, there is a great deal more churn inside the North Korean system than is popularly depicted in the media, even though Kim appears in control.  Second, the purges of Jang and Ri manifest an ideological hardening under Kim Jong-un.  The building of ski resorts, amusement parks, and the occasional hosting of Dennis Rodman may look like reform, but they mask a deeper ideological rigidity and cleansing of “corrupted” elements at the top levels of DPRK leadership who have benefited from patronage networks and business opportunities with China and others outside of North Korea.  In short, the DPRK under Kim is not softening and reforming, but it is getting ideologically rigid and more dangerous.

• Bruce Klingner: With all of the purges in North Korea, there is an uncertainty as to whether it shows that a weak and embattled Kim Jong Un is striving to fight off various factions for attempted purges, or alternatively that a strong and confident Kim Jong Un is removing potential sources of challenge, or simply that he’s consolidating his power.  I think it tends to be the latter. I think that Kim Jong Un is in firm control, and that he has the ability to remove even the most senior-level officials.

• Sino-NK considers NK’s nuclearization, international isolation, and securitization as it tries to determine if NK is a rational actor.

MISC.

• Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding, an Egypt-based telecom group, has halted its investment in Koryolink due to claims that NK blocked remittance of its profits to Egypt.

• US Vice President Joe Biden visited the DMZ during his visit to SK.

• NK sent “profound condolences” to South Africa over Nelson Mandela’s death.

• Dennis Rodman will visit NK again on December 18th. On this, his third trip to NK, he will help train the NKorean basketball team.

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