Not all purges are alike

It has now been over a week since South
Korea’s spy agency announced North Korea’s defense minister Hyon Yong Chol had
been publicly executed. The North has slammed Seoul for giving Pyongyang the
label of ‘fear-based politics,’ claiming it is an offense to the ‘highest
dignity.’ Images of Hyon have remained intact in North Korea’s documentaries
airing on state-run television, but seeing that Pyongyang has not been able to
produce fresh images of the defense minister, most have come to believe he is
no longer alive. The debate on whether he actually was executed by
anti-aircraft guns lingers, but that seems to be beside the point.

Fate of Ri Yong Ho, Jang Song Thaek, and
Hyon Yong Chol

Some of the most high-profile executions carried
out under the Kim Jong Un regime are of key figures Ri Yong Ho, Jang Song
Thaek, and Hyon Yong Chol. They are all tied together in the fact that the
killings were used to boost Kim’s leadership. By removing powerful members in
central posts, Kim Jong Un was not only able to solidify the foundation of his
governance but send a message to others. However, the purge of Hyon is not
quite the same as the previous two figures mentioned.
 

In the case of Ri Yong Ho, the former Chief
of the General Staff in the Chosun People’s Army [KPA], he was tapped by Kim Jong Il
as a patron of the younger Kim Jong Un to help him secure his leadership. The
much older heavyweight, in other words, was tasked with aiding the ‘young
king.’ However, from the new leader’s point of view, Ri would have come with a
burdensome presence. This is because he would simply never have been a puppet
sitting at the feet of the young Kim. Ri’s purge can, therefore, be seen as a
political calculation to weaken the power of the military and help strengthen
the fledgling dictatorship.
 

Jang Song Thaek would have also been as
difficult a figure to Kim Jong Un. As Kim’s uncle, he would have watched the
young leader grow up. Having seen the young Kim from the years when he played
with his toys, almost without doubt, Jang would not have accepted all of his
decisions as the final word. It would have also been hard for Kim to order
around his uncle. Under whatever circumstances, Jang could not have been an
absolute follower of the young leader. Although through brutal means, the
execution of Jang ensured that a strong message would be passed on to all power
elite in the country, showing that ‘anyone who does not display absolute
subordination to the highest leader cannot evade death.’ By killing his uncle,
Kim was able to tout his absolute power not only within but also outside of the
country.
 

When it comes to Hyon Yong Chol, though, it
is hard to find the same underlying political meaning found in the previous
cases. However high a military official Hyon may have been, he would have still
been an absolute follower of Kim Jong Un. Nothing indicates that the power Hyon
once held within the country posed any limitations on Kim’s governance. In this
same vein, there is also no indication that his death would help boost Kim’s
power by any means. Hyon’s sudden execution may have sent a warning to others,
demonstrating that anyone who falls out of favor of the leadership can easily
be killed, but that is simply an abuse of power rather than any form of political
strife that would lead to a stronger leadership.
 

Demise of scapegoat Hyon Yong Chol 

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service
cited Hyon’s nodding off at a military training event as one of his acts of
insubordination that led to his execution. In North Korea, dozing off while the
leader is delivering a speech can very well be considered a crime. However, it
is more reasonable to believe it was not his drowsiness that had him killed but
complaints about the young leader that he may have secretly expressed in
private settings that were exposed by the State Security Department. Whatever
‘insubordination’ the minister may have displayed, the subsequent execution took
things one step too far. The unfortunate downfall of Hyon stems more from Kim’s
brutality rather than his own misdoing.
 

North Korea’s society, from all aspects of
civilian life to the military, is based on tightly knit webs of surveillance
that would make it very difficult for any collective revolt to take place. The
assertion that a military coup is impossible in the North stems from this
unique trait. However, fear-instilling politics and chasms between the leadership and power elite could produce factors of
unpredictability. History has always proven it unfolds in ways most unexpected
by people of its time.

 *Views expressed in Guest Columns do not necessarily reflect those of Daily NK.