When Uncle Hollers

Beijing, we’ve got a problem. Brutal-boy, Kim Jong-un (right above), has stripped his powerful uncle, Chang Song-thaek (left above), of all political power. Remember Uncle Chang, China? He’s the guy who led the last North Korean delegation to the People’s Republic of China? Yeah, that guy. I know, I know…. Your lackey state leader, Brutal-boy, has yet to pay a state visit to the PRC as N. Korea’s fearful leader. Well, China, some bad news. Immediately after a military “trial,” after he “admitted” to trying to stage a coup to depose Brutal-boy, Uncle Chang (married to Kim Jong-il’s sister) was summarily executed.

Yeah, I know, it’s pretty scary, but what can you do? If the North collapses and merges into South Korea, well, you are going to have a rather direct border with a really strong American ally, and that, we know, just ain’t happenin’ anytime soon. Oh, and Kim has summoned his senior business representatives in China to return to North Korea… what exactly does that mean? The whole world is aghast as this horrific methodology of handling any threat, even from within the leader’s own immediate family.

“A long and detailed statement described [Chang] as ‘despicable human scum... worse than a dog.’… Two of his closest aides had already been executed, and many of his subordinates and allies have reportedly been recalled to Pyongyang… Correspondents say the speed and brutality of Mr Chang's case has been startling. Political purges are common, but the regime rarely makes such an exhibition of senior figures who fall from grace.” BBC.co.uk, December 13^th.

Hey, I like dogs, so he must’ve been a good fellow, but an over 2,000 word official statement seemed to consist of a massive set of negative descriptions of this once-second-most-powerful person in N. Korea. The subtext in Chang’s confession, which rings a bit more like truth, is that the people should rise against a failed economy that hovers near starvation for most. While his frail 67-year-old widow (and sister to Kim’s father) appears to have survived the coup and retained her numerous titles, she is rarely seen in public these days.

South Korea’s reaction: “South Korean President Park Geun-Hye has warned the North is ‘engaged in a reign of terror’ aimed at consolidating Kim Jong-un's grip on power. The South's military has said it is on heightened alert… South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae warned the purge could be followed by military moves from Pyongyang - including another nuclear test. Military action is often used by the North as a way of curbing internal agitation…

“In February [the North] carried out its third nuclear test, to widespread international condemnation, and threatened attacks on Japanese, South Korean and US military targets in the region… Japan said it was ‘closely watching’ the latest situation, and would remain in communication with its neighbors on the matter, Kyodo news agency quoted Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga as saying.” BBC.

The United States was simply shocked. “State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said she would not speculate on what might be happening within the North Korea regime, but that the execution of Mr Chang had been ‘an incredibly brutal act’ which ‘underscores the horrific human rights record of the North Korean regime.’… ‘We're going to increase our discussions with our allies and partners in the region about the internal situation in North Korea,’ Ms Harf told reporters in Washington.

“‘North Korea has a choice between continuing down the path of isolation and impoverishment of its own people or meeting its obligations and coming back to the international system,’ said Ms Harf… She said the US ‘would urge the North Koreans not to take provocative acts’ as it was ‘not in the interest of regional stability.’” BBC.

China really was at loss but shrugged off this horrific act and labeled the execution as “an internal matter.” A diplomatic “whatever.” Think the citizens North Korea will be up in arms? They only get information that the government allows them to get. They don’t know who Barack Obama or Nelson Mandela are? They still are taught to look up to Stalin and Mao. And dissent is punished by a fate worse than death (although death is routinely applied, as was the case of 80 people executed for watching banned South Korean television programming): incarceration of the offender and his/her entire family in slave labor camps and kept on the brink of starvation, subject to sexual abuse, torture and often a slow, painful death.  

Kim Jong-un has told the world that his nation’s policies would continue as originally contemplated. The world should really trust in your promised progress, right! Hey, Kim has the largest standing army on earth, nuclear weapons and missiles to deliver them nearby and a populace who worship him. He seems to have zero moral capacity, embraces brutality as a way of life, and loves to mess with the Western world and their Asian allies. It could get a lot worse in that nasty land… a whole lot worse.

I’m Peter Dekom, and how human being can act with such brutality without as much as a second thought always terrifies me.