Free Republic

Details emerging from North Korea about Kim Jong-un's surprising public purging of his uncle from a top position indicate that it was a family affair with his aunt and brother, armed with a pistol, taking part in the arrests of ranking officials. ... "What you have to understand is that the North Korean dynasty is run by an absolute blood-based hereditary mindset," pointed out Lee Yun-keol, the president of North Korea Strategic Information Service Center. The purge drama was designed by Kim Kyong-hee, Jang's wife, and Kim Jong-un, Lee said. ... The South Korean media have also been reporting that...

/begin my translation Kim Jong-il's Niece Killed Herself in FranceParents opposed her love affair with a man with bad ideological background [2006-09-15 13:19] Jang Sung-taek, Kim Jong-il's brother-in-law Jang Kum-song(age:29), the only daughter of Jang Sung-taek(age:60), Kim Jong-il's brother-in-law, and First Director of Worker's Organization and Capital Construction Division of N. Korea's ruling party, is reported to have committed suicide recently in France.  A source on N. Korea in Europe said on Sept. 14, "We learned that Ms. Jang recently took her own life in France, and it is due to 'love problem.'" Ms. Jang is the daughter of Jang Sung-taek, and Kim Kyong-hee, the sister of Kim Jong-il....

/begin my conversation"Phone Conversation of Kim Kyong-hee & Jong-nam Intercepted", Sankei in Japan Reports"North's succession intrigue intense.... even one hour conversation while drunk" Kim Kyong-hee(left,) (Kim Jong-il's sister,) and Kim Jong-nam(right,) (Kim Jong-il's eldest son) An intelligence agency of an E. Asian country has been successful in intercepting frequent phone conversations between Kim Jong-nam, Kim Jong-il's eldest son, and Kim Kyong-hee, Kim Jong-il's sister since early last year. They were international calls between Pyongyang and Beijing, according to May 1st issue of Sankei Shimbun(of Japan.) The paper reported that Kim Jong-nam blamed incompetent N. Korean security agencies for his arrest...

/begin my translation N. Korea: Kim Jong-il Was Shot At By Jang's Son It is alleged that, last November, during a shooting incident by a son of Jang Sung-taek, who is Kim Jong-il's brother-in-law, Kim knocked unconscious. A source who used to be in N. Korean intelligence said on Feb. 14 that this story is making a round among high-level N. Korean security officials. According to this intelligence, between the night of Nov. 28 and the early morning of Nov. 29, there was a family gathering including Kim Jong-il, his second son Kim Jong-chol, Jang Sung-taek's son(Jang is Kim's brother-in-law),...

Death of Kim's consort: Dynastic implications By David Scofield North Korea is synonymous with death. The widely circulated news of Kim Jong-il's consort's death is important not in the circumstances of her demise, but in the questions of dynastic succession it has brought to the fore - who will inherit the mantle of despot in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea? Kim Jong-il is 62. Kim's appetite for exotic food and fine alcohol is surpassed only by his appetite for female flesh, an indulgence that led him to Koh Young-hee, formerly a dancer in one of Kim's many "pleasure teams",...