No One Is Safe In North Korea

NK News: No one is safe in Kim Jong Un’s court

When it comes to ruthlessness, North Korea’s leader surpasses his father and grandfather

Much speculation surrounds the fate of Hyon Yong Chol, the North Korean defense minister who was allegedly purged and executed in late April, but not immediately removed from all video footage. However, this controversy should not obscure one important fact: In the last three years the North Korean military, political and security police bureaucracy have been subjected to a purge on a scale not seen since at least the late 1960s.

It seems that the recent events give us the first ideas of Kim Jong Un’s own peculiar style of purging officials he considers dangerous, useless or annoying. Indeed, while purges have remained a constant feature of North Korean political life for many decades, the style of purges has not remained unchanged.

WNU Editor: Most of the men and women who have been purged are the "old timers" .... people who have been in power for years who felt that they were in control of the state apparatus and who in turn believed were in a position to control and influence Kim Jung Un. Recent events have proven to be spectacularly wrong for these individuals. I am speculating now, but I suspect that when Kim Jung Un came to power he had already made the decision to establish his own personal security and intelligence unit that was loyal only to him, earn the trust of some key people, and when he felt comfortable and confident of success .... start his purge. No surprise ... he has succeeded. Fear has now taken over .... key people who could have opposed him are now dead .... and for all intent and purposes there is now no effective opposition. Out with the old .... in with the new .... the North Korean version on the cycle of life. But there is something else that bothers me about North Korea. A new and younger generation headed by Kim Jung Un have now assumed power in North Korea, and the key questioned that needs to be asked is .... with the purges now tapering off, where will Kim Jung Un focus his attention. I will confess that when I think of the answers to that question .... I start to feel very nervous.