Kim Jong-un's wife and aunt survive Pyongyang's purges
Seoul (AsiaNews) - The purges ordered by the North Korean dictator against his uncle and the latter's "clique ", who were declared "enemies of the state" and executed for high treason, appear to have spared his aunt, the wife of the "enemy," and the dictator's own wife.
South Korean intelligence had initially reported that Kim Kyong-hui, the sister of the late Kim Jong-il, and Kim Jong-un's wife Ri Sol-ju might have been executed. The latter had not been seen in public for 40 days.
Now, both women have reappeared on state media. Kim, the last living daughter of the 'Father of the Nation' Kim Il-sung, was cited in a dispatch alongside top officials in a committee for the funeral of Kim Kuk-thae, the chairman of the Control Committee of the ruling Workers' Party and number 5 on the regime's hierarchy, who died on Friday. The funeral committee list is one of few indications of North Korean officials' status.
For her part, Ri was photographed with her husband during a visit to a battalion of soldiers on the northern border with China.
Nevertheless, the impact of the purge is still felt. Jang Song Thaek, eminence grise of the regime and Kim Jong-un's tutor during the transition after the death of his father Kim Jong-il, was executed Thursday. He was believed to have been in charge of promoting economic relations with China, and many of the charges against him focused on his ties to Beijing, which he visited on a regular basis.
Today, North Korea ordered its business officials in China to return home right away. The order to return appears to be part of the ongoing crackdown on real or imagined enemies of the state, the Yonhap News Agency reported, quoting unnamed sources.
Most of these business officials operate in the northeastern Chinese border cities of Dandong and Shenyang, almost all involved in the mining sector and manufacturing.
"Large numbers of North Korean businessmen in Shenyang and Dandong have gone home in a hurry this week," one source was quoted as saying, without completing their tasks. Another source said North Korea plans to summon home all its officials and staff from China.
At present, China is North Korea's only trading, economic and diplomatic partner.
According to several analysts, Beijing has been pressing hard on its ally to give up its nuclear programme and open up to economic reforms as Deng Xiaoping did in China in the late seventies. However, for the Kims this would entail an end to their absolute hold on power, something the youngest of the Kim brood appears unwilling to do as the purges would indicate.
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