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Further Reading

Jang Song Taek

Jang Song Taek is North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's 63-year-old [as of 2009] brother-in-law. Born in 1946, Jang is four years younger than Kim Jong Il. Jang Sung Taek's wife, Kim Kyung Hee, is Kim Jong-Il's younger sister. Kim Kyung Hee is said by some to have been an alcoholic for a long time, resulting in a sustained separation from Jang. Their marriage was achieved despite the objections of Kim Il Sung, since there was a problem in the background of Jang's father. Their daughter Geum Song, who studied in Paris, committed suicide in 2006. Jang Song Taek excels in accordion playing.

Jang Song Taek, Director of the Ministry of Administration, rose to the center of North Korean power in just a few years. In 1992, he was elected Central Committee's Central Delegate, and rose to be 1st Vice-Director of the Guidance Division in 1994.

He was overthrown in 2004 for debauched acts, such as creating factions within the party in 2004 and scheming to seize power. Reports of Chang's downfall first surfaced in March 2004. Jang Song-thaek was reportedly purged after he tried to build up a military faction to put his own son in power. There are reports that Chang and Kim Kyung-hee parted ways following Chang's purge. Chang was also known to have close ties with Kim Jong-il's disgraced first son Kim Jong Nam, and his downfall was widely viewed as part of a power struggle for succession.

He had controlled personnel matters in the ruling Workers' Party, and his two brothers held top jobs in the military. Chang was a potential stumbling block if Kim started transferring power to one of his three sons. Chang's downfall may have begun in 2003, after Hwang Jang Yop, the highest-ranking North Korean to defect [the former secretary of the North Korean Workers Party], publicly noted that Chang might be installed in Kim's place in the event of a coup d'état (Chang is also a relative of Mr. Hwang).

Dozens of Jang's aides and relatives were purged or demoted. Jang's eldest brother, Jang Song-u, was a KPA vice marshal and commanded the Third Army Corps which surrounds the city of Pyongyang. The second-oldest brother, Jang Song-yop, was the vice director of the Kim Il-sung Higher Party School. A younger brother, Jang Song-Gil, was a lieutenant general and tank commander, while the youngest, Jang Song-ho, was a political vice president of the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School. The exact fate of these other family members was unclear as of early 2005. As many as 80 top officials and their family members were reportedly sent to North Korea's Gulag in the largest purge in a decade. By 2006 he was reappointed as the First-Vice Director of the Guidance Department, the man who actually governs the Party and the Army. After when Jang Sung Taek's position was strengthened, North Korea's domestic policies became even more conservative. When the symptoms of Kim Jong Il's illness were discovered in September 2008, he is reported to have moved to secure command of the Guidance Division of the Party.

In April 2009 North Korean leader Kim Jong Il appointed his brother-in-law Jang Song Taek to an influential defense position. Kim Jong Il appointed Jang to North Korea's National Defense Commission. In North Korea's militarized and authoritarian society, Mr. Kim derives much of his status as the government's unquestioned leader from his status as chairman of that commission. Previously Jang's positions had been within the Korean Workers' Party, not the government. That fueled discussion about what might happen to North Korea's government if the aging leader's health should fail. Jang Song Taek is unlikely to take Kim Jong Il's place directly - but does have a role to play. Jang's likely role is to support a succession process, rather than to lead the country himself. The suggestion is that Kim Jong Il would temporarily hand over power to Jang, rather than to his own sons, who are young and inexperienced.

By 2009 the so-called "rival" to Jang Song Taek was the 77 year old Lee Jeh Gang [Ri Je Gang], first vice department director of the Central Committee, whose constituency was the Korean People's Army, having supervision over the Central Military Committee, the Ministry of People's Armed Forces and the KWP General Political Bureau of the KPA. Western speculation is that that Jang Song Taek and Kim Kyung Hee are trying to establish Kim Jong Il's eldest son, the manifestly disqualified Kim Jong Nam, as the successor while Lee Jeh Gang, the First Vice Director of the Guidance Department, supported Kim Jong Cheol, Kim Jong Il's second eldest son, who is said to suffer from a variety of physical infirmities. The Japanese Mainichi Newspaper reported in December 2008 that "Jang Sung Taek, who supports the eldest Jong Nam as Kim Jong Il's successor, created tension with Lee Jeh Gang when he requested the succession of Kim Jong Nam at the end of 2007."

But other informed observers question the very idea of conflict surrounding the succession plan among those who are closely involved. Since Kim Jong Il's evaluation is the decisive one regarding the succession issue, subordinates backing different persons is a scenario which cannot exist.