????WHILE the rest of North Korea’s top brass leaped to their feet before Kim Jong Un, clapping wildly in requisite shows of respect at high-level meetings, his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, often seemed nonchalant, at times even bored. Once considered the force behind the young leader, he displayed a bold insouciance that seemed calculated to show he was beyond reach. ????By purging his own uncle, Kim has delivered a more chilling message: No one is beyond reach, not even family. ????Jang’s fall from grace, accompanied by allegations ranging from corruption to womanizing and capped by his dramatic arrest at a party meeting last Sunday, has no doubt spooked Pyongyang’s elite. ????It is the ouster of Jang, who had been considered North Korea’s second-most-powerful figure, that sends the strongest signal to anyone seeking to challenge Kim. ????Jang, 67, had occupied a privileged and yet precarious spot within the inner circle. He is the husband of Kim Kyong Hui, the only daughter of late President Kim Il Sung, younger sister to Kim Jong Il and aunt to Kim. ????Jang was seen as a regent figure as Kim Jong Un was being groomed to succeed his father. He rose in party and military ranks alongside his baby-faced nephew, often dressed in a trim white general’s uniform and standing within arm’s length of Kim on field visits and at state events. ????In 2012, he led a business delegation to China to discuss the construction of special economic zones. He also served as chairman of the State Physical Culture and Sports Guidance Commission, which oversees many of Kim’s pet projects. ????Last week, South Korea’s spy agency gave the first public word that Jang may have been dismissed. It said he had not been seen publicly in weeks and his two closest confidants executed. ????North Korean state media has not confirmed the executions, but on Monday it made vividly clear that Jang is out. Images aired on state TV showed him being stripped of all his titles at last Sunday’s party meeting led by Kim. Premier Pak Pong Ju was in tears as he denounced his longtime friend. ????This time, there was no white general’s uniform: Jang was dressed in civilian wear and sitting in the audience, not with the rest of the leadership. Party members watched impassively, barely flinching or raising an eyebrow, as two burly men grabbed Jang. ????State media laid out a laundry list of Jang’s alleged transgressions, including instigating party dissent and squandering party funds on drugs, gambling and women. He was branded “depraved” for living a “capitalist” lifestyle. ????Referring to North Korea as a “popular democratic dictatorship,” the dispatch said “Jang seriously obstructed the nation’s economic affairs and the improvement of the standard of people’s living.” ????In fact, Jang has been purged before. He dropped out of sight for a few years in the mid-2000s, reportedly for going too far with fledgling economic reforms under Kim Jong Il. But Monday’s pillorying was unprecedented, and a startling show for a regime that typically keeps its internal politics secret. ????Monday’s announcement in state media also hinted that Jang was trying to challenge the party status quo. It said he committed anti-party, counterrevolutionary acts and “pretended to uphold the party and leader” while double-dealing behind the scenes. ????Jang’s expulsion raises the question of what will happen to Jang’s wife. As the sole remaining offspring of North Korea’s founder, she is a key figure in a leadership hierarchy that stresses the Kim family bloodlines in their claim to legitimacy. North Koreans and foreign observers will be keeping close watch for her appearance at memorials marking the second anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s death Dec. 17. ????The purge of Jang also calls into question how aggressively North Korea will push forward the ambitious economic projects that he championed. The excoriation of Jang’s business dealings is a sign that the leadership is uncomfortable with the loss of state control that may come with economic growth. ????Jang was born in Kangwon-do. He graduated from Kim Il Sung Senior High School before leaving for Moscow, where he studied between 1968 and 1972. Upon his return, he married Kim Kyong Hui. The couple had a daughter, Jang Kum Song, who lived overseas in Paris as an international student. She refused an order to return to Pyongyang and then committed suicide in September 2006, reportedly due to Jang and his wife Kim’s opposition to her relationship with her boyfriend. ????Jang was formerly an instructor to the Pyongyang Party Committee, and became the vice director of the Workers’ Party of Korea’s Organization and Guidance Department in 1982. In 1989, he was co-opted in the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee as an alternate member, and promoted to full member in 1992, when he was also appointed as the first deputy director of the organization and guidance department. ????Jang had been identified by outside analysts as well as North Korean defector Hwang Jang Yop as a possible successor to Kim Jong Il. However, on Nov. 25, 2004, South Korea’s National Assembly heard testimony that he had been purged from his position. ????On Dec. 25, 2011, North Korean television showed Jang in the uniform of a general. A Seoul official familiar with North Korea affairs said it was the first time Jang had been shown on state television in a military uniform. His appearance suggested that Jang had secured a key role in the North’s powerful military, which had pledged its allegiance to Kim. Jang’s importance in the new regime continued to be demonstrated during his 2012 visit to China, when he met Chinese leaders. ????In November the same year, the WPK Central Committee Politburo adopted a decision on establishing the State Physical Culture and Sports Guidance Commission, with Jang as its chairman. ????Speculation arose earlier this year that Jang had been quietly promoted to top decision-making Politburo Presidium, as his official hierarchy position was elevated, displacing then-Chief of General Staff Hyon Yong Chol and his own wife. ????(SD-Agencies) | 