by Joseph Yun Li-sun

Jang Song- taek , who is married to the late Kim Jong-il’s sister, was arrested ten days ago. In Overnight he was sentenced to death and immediately executed. Accused of plotting to grab power, he pays for his friendship with China.

Seoul ( AsiaNews) - With the " undisputed applause " of the Politburo of the Workers' Party , a military court sentenced Jang Song- taek to death last night.  The powerful uncle of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un purged from the party last December 3 . The sentence was carried out immediately after by the court executioner: it is not clear if the man was shot, a punishment usually reserved for common criminals, or hanged.

The sentence and its execution were confirmed by KCNA , the official North Korean regime press agency: " The tribunal examined Jang's crimes. All the crimes committed by the accused were proved in the course of the hearing and were admitted by him. The accused is the worst traitor to the nation of all time who perpetrated anti-party, counter-revolutionary factional acts in a bid to overthrow the leadership of our party and state and the socialist system".

According to the agency "from long ago, Jang had a dirty political ambition. He dared not raise his head when Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il were alive. But... he began revealing his true colors, thinking that it was just the time for him to realize his wild ambition in the period of historic turn when the generation of the revolution was replaced [ which took place just two years ago, December 17, 2011 , after the death of the ' dear Leader ' Kim Jong-il ]".

During the trial, the suspect reportedly "admitted" to planning a coup: "namely when the North Korean economy completely collapsed and the state was on the verge of disintegration. Has also admitted that he had illegally amassed funds to be able to then buy his appointment and approval of the army".

According to some analysts , there are some grains of truth in these statements, "Jang was definitely main point of contact with China, and it is not inconceivable that he developed a plan , at least with the support of Beijing to forcibly remove Kim and implement economic reforms similar to those of Deng Xiaoping. But the real truth will never emerge".

 

• north
• korea
• kim
• jong
• il
• purge
• party
• uncle
• execution