All blood relatives of North Korea’s erstwhile number two, who was executed a month ago, have apparently suffered the same fate, says the S. Korean Yonhap news agency.
The report cites “multiple” unnamed sources in Pyongyang and has not yet been confirmed. According to it, Kim Jong-un is believed to have ordered the total elimination of his uncle’s biological relatives to demonstrate decisiveness and to clamp down on mutiny with an iron fist.
Once all powerful, Jang Song-thaek was the ‘regent’ while Kim was still too young to govern after Kim Jong-il’s death. He was executed on December 12, 2013 at the age of 67, after making an alleged attempt to stage a military coup and dethrone his nephew.
Jang Song-thaek’s only daughter, Jang Kum-song, committed suicide in 2006, so the alleged vengeance was wreaked on Jang’s other relatives.
Yonhap maintains that Jang Song-thaek’s elder sister, her husband Jon Yong-jin (N. Korean Ambassador to Cuba), Jang’s nephew Jang Yong-chol (N. Korean Ambassador to Malaysia) and his two sons, both around 20 years old, were slain.
Both diplomats were recalled back to North Korea in early December and executed after their high-ranking relative, Pyongyang sources claim.
Underage sons and daughters and even grandchildren of the
abovementioned officials were also reportedly killed.
In the meantime Jang Song-thaek's wife, Kim Kyong-hui, Kim
Jong-un’s aunt, is believed to be in a coma after a brain
operation.
Yonhap’s source said that some victims put up resistance while being dragged out of their apartments and were shot dead “in front of other people”.
The purge started right after Jang Song-thaek’s execution and is still continuing, as the regime proceeds to expel Jang’s minions from all power structures.
Reportedly, Jang’s indirect relatives, such as the wife of the executed ambassador to Malaysia or other relatives by marriage were not put to death, but exiled to a distant village together with their families.