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| FILE - In this Feb. 16, 2012 file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walks past his uncle Jang Song Thaek, left, after reviewing a parade of thousands of soldiers and commemorating the 70th birthday of the late Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korean state media say Kim Jong Un's uncle has been executed, calling the leader's former mentor "worse than a dog." The announcement on Thursday evening, Dec. 12, 2013, comes days after Pyongyang announced that Jang Song Thaek had been removed from all his posts because of allegations of corruption, drug use, gambling, womanizing and generally leading a "dissolute and depraved life." |
PYONGYANG, North
Korea (AP) -- North Korea said Friday that it has executed Kim Jong
Un's uncle, calling the leader's former mentor a traitor who tried to
seize power and overthrow the state.
The
stunning announcement came only days after Jang Song Thaek - long
considered the country's No. 2 power - was removed from all his posts
because of a long list of allegations, including corruption, drug use,
gambling and womanizing.
In an unusually
detailed announcement, the official news agency KCNA said Jang had been
tried for "such hideous crime as attempting to overthrow the state by
all sorts of intrigues and despicable methods with a wild ambition to
grab the supreme power of our party and state."
It called him a "traitor to the nation for all ages" and "worse than a dog."
Kim
Jong Un has overseen other high-profile purges since taking after the
death of his father, Kim Jong Il, two years ago. But none of the purges
have been as public - or as close to home - as the downfall of Jang,
who was seen as helping the younger Kim consolidate power.
Analysts
have said that Kim Jong Un has acted swiftly and ruthlessly to bolster
his own power and show strength, but there has been fear in Seoul that
the removal of Jang and his followers could lead to instability or lead
to a miscalculation or attack on the South. Jang had been seen by
outsiders as the leading supporter of Chinese-style economic reforms.
North
Korea has recently turned to attempts at diplomacy with South Korea and
the United States. But tensions have remained high since Pyongyang
threatened nuclear strikes on Seoul and Washington last spring, and warn
that it would restart nuclear bomb fuel production.
There
was no immediate word about the fate of Jang's wife, Kim Kyong Hui, the
younger sister of Kim Jong Il. She was also seen as a key mentor to Kim
Jong Un after her brother's December 2011 death.
The
White House said it could not independently confirm reports of Jang's
execution but it has "no reason to doubt" the report from the official
Korean Central News Agency that it took place.
Patrick
Ventrell, a National Security Council spokesman, said, "if confirmed,
this is another example of the extreme brutality of the North Korean
regime."
Ventrell said the U.S. was following developments in North Korea closely and consulting with allies and partners in the region.
The KCNA report called Jang a "despicable political careerist and trickster" and "despicable human scum."
It
was also unusually specific and chilling in its allegations. For
instance, the report said that at one point, Jang didn't rise and
applaud his nephew's appointment to a senior position because he
"thought that if Kim Jong Un's base and system for leading the army were
consolidated, this would lay a stumbling block in the way of grabbing
the power."
Jang was described earlier this
week by state media as "abusing his power," being "engrossed in
irregularities and corruption," and taking drugs and squandering money
at casinos while undergoing medical treatment in a foreign country.
