Daily
NK has learned that Kim Kyong Hui, who was not in attendance at yesterdays’
events to commemorate the second anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s death, has left
North Korea for medical treatment. She is said to be in a serious condition
following a seizure allegedly brought on by the execution of husband Jang Song Taek.
A
source based in South Hwanghae Province reported to Daily NK on the 19th, “Comrade
Kim Kyong Hui’s health has deteriorated so badly that she couldn’t even attend
the memorial event for the second anniversary of the General’s passing. We’re
aware that she has travelled overseas to receive treatment. Her health wasn’t
great as it was, and I hear that she suffered a heart attack when her husband
was executed by firing squad.”
The
source added, “This news came from a high-level Party cadre, so it’s accurate. He
said that cadres are critical amongst themselves, saying that no matter
what [Jang] may have done, he’s her husband and he was executed, not even sent
to a camp. Even with a heart of stone, would you be able to bear that?’”
According
to the source, among close cadres there is a sense that though they pretend to
console Kim Kyong Hui, in truth they feel greater sadness over the pitiful execution
of Jang. Among the general population, meanwhile, people believe that if Jang
and Kim had children, Jang wouldn’t have been killed.
The
source also reported that the Kim regime is passing responsibility onto Jang for
the failure of state projects. For instance, new agricultural management systems
were introduced this year, and their current failure is now being attributed to
Jang’s anti party, counter-revolutionary factionalism.
“This
year’s harvest has been better than others, but there hasn’t been much given
back to the farmers so there is deep unhappiness there,” he said. “Farmers had been expecting a lot of distribution but what they got was a distribution
document full of taxes included land rent, and even the little that they did
get was all taken away to ‘support’ the People’s Army.”
The
source went on, “Cadres are spreading word of Jang’s wrongdoings. They call it
an effect of Jang Song Taek’s distorted implementation of Party agricultural policy,
and claim he siphoned off rice collected to support the People’s Army and sent
it overseas in order to fill his pockets.” However, ordinary people, who no
longer trust the state, are not prepared to believe that Jang could be
responsible for so many of the nation’s ills.
