North Korea Erases Executed Official From the Internet 276
itwbennett writes "The North Korean state propaganda machine has edited and deleted hundreds of news articles that mention Jang Song Thaek, the former top government and party official and uncle to leader Kim Jong Un, who was executed Thursday. Earlier this week, Jang was arrested in front of hundreds of senior members of the ruling Worker's Party of Korea and denounced for numerous alleged acts against the state and Kim Jong Un. From arrest to trial to death took only four days and the unprecedented fall from grace is widely being interpreted as an attempt by Kim Jong Un to keep officials loyal and scared."
Re:Word unlocked. (Score:5, Interesting)
He knows that you and everybody else knows the charges were false
I'm with you on everything in your post but this. Were they false?
I don't pretend to be up on North Korean politics, but I recall reading when Kim Jong Un came to power that some of his family members, Aunts and Uncles wielded a lot of power, and that Dear Leader himself had to tread pretty lightly to maintain the balance of power.
It could well be that his Uncle was making a play for power. Or it could be that Kim Jong Un has consolidated enough support for himself that he can openly move against his opponents. Just saying, ... not that I think Kim Jong Un is some 'force for good' in North Korea, but I'm pretty skeptical that his Uncle was innocent of anything.
Re:Word unlocked. (Score:5, Interesting)
He knows that you and everybody else knows the charges were false
I'm with you on everything in your post but this. Were they false?
Oh, yes, I am pretty sure they were false. And that the uncle was guilty of a great many things, but not those he were charged with.
Kim Jong-Un's point wasn't to get him convicted for things he did - the point was to get him convicted, killed and erased on a whim. For that to be truly effective, Kim would need charges that were blatantly false, and some that weren't even against any laws. Which is exactly what he appears to have done.
It's a truly despicable Machiavellan ploy. The consolation is that few excessively ruthless leaders tend to rule for very long.
Re:Word unlocked. (Score:5, Interesting)
"The consolation is that few excessively ruthless leaders tend to rule for very long.", Ya, I think the calculation of the flunkies runs something like "this guy is a lunatic and I might be next, let's all make him next first."
Re:House of Cards (Score:5, Interesting)
Dictators rarely die of natural causes
His father and grandfather died in the saddle of natural causes.
And actually, unfortunately, plenty of others do too, e.g. Franco, Salazar, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot... And if you include the ones ousted but not killed (e.g. Duvalier, Amin, Pinochet) the list gets even longer.
(not killing dictators is actually important because if killing them is the only way to get rid of them they will hold on more tightly. The means of bribing them by letting them keep some ill-gotten gains is justified by the ends).
Re:Word unlocked. (Score:3, Interesting)
[...] I recall reading when Kim Jong Un came to power that some of his family members, Aunts and Uncles wielded a lot of power, and that Dear Leader himself had to tread pretty lightly to maintain the balance of power.
It could well be that his Uncle was making a play for power. [..]
One possibility.
The other possibility:
Dear Leader had finally enough power not to listen to his uncle anymore. And his economically more experienced uncle might have told him that some of his new power moves are contra-productive. Like taking South Korean workers hostage and ruining future chances of needed cash flow.
- I imagine that disrespectful uncle might have said things like: "You know, some of the stuff you're doing is pretty dumb, even for North Korean standards." And Dear leader might have responded: "Oh uh, insurection!"