Kim Jong Un hints at further purges

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has signaled he may further purge top cadres, ordering senior Workers’ Party members to carry out a “campaign against abuse of power, bureaucrat-ism, irregularities and corruption”.

The party adopted the resolution at a politburo meeting to review his three years in power, the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Thursday.

The warning comes after Kim unleashed a series of purges to tighten his grip on power in the reclusive nation. The “Supreme Leader” last month executed a general who disagreed with him.

Kim ordered the killing of his uncle and one-time deputy Jang Song Thaek in 2013, after accusations of graft and factionalism, and had about 50 officials executed last year on charges ranging from graft to watching South Korean soap operas.

Since North Korea’s founding in 1948, Kim, his father, and his grandfather have eliminated people perceived as a threat to their dynastic rule and personal power. Charges have ranged from spying for the United States to gossiping about a leader’s mistress.

Kim, believed to be about 30, controls North Korea’s 1.2 million troops and nuclear arms program, having taken over the nation of 24 million people after Kim Jong Il died in December 2011.

[Bloomberg]

This entry was posted in DPRK Government, Jang Song Thaek purge, Kim Jong Un by Grant Montgomery.