South Korean Minister of Unification Ryoo Kihl Jae has entered the fray over the removal from political power of Jang Sung Taek, telling the National Assembly earlier today that Jang does appear to have been removed, but that there has been “no personal change to Jang or his wife Kim Kyung Hee.”
“There is a very good chance that [Jang] has lost his post,” Ryoo declared before a National Assembly committee on unification and foreign affairs. “There are additional purges going on now.”
However, he noted that the removal of Jang has not yet been confirmed.
Elsewhere, Ryoo backed the overall content of the NIS briefing document that broke the story, which was supplied to the National Assembly Intelligence Committee yesterday.
Notably, asked whether the Ministry of Unification is certain that two of Jang’s closest associates in the Department of Administration of the Chosun Workers’ Party, Lee Yong Ha and Jang Su Gil, really were executed, Ryoo stated, “Yes,” but did not confirm the method of execution.
