North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered the execution of every blood relative of his uncle, Jang Song-thaek, who was put to death in December.
The 67-year-old Jang was a high-profile member of North Korea’s ruling elite and a former mentor to Kim, but was executed last month after he was accused of plotting to overthrow Kim’s communist regime.
In response to Jang’s “treacherous” behaviour, Kim has not only had hime executed but also all of his brothers, children, and grandchildren, with reports of many of them already having been shot dead being published in South Korean newspapers.
Kim’s purge of Jang’s extended family, including the North Korean ambassadors to Cuba and Malaysia, is a push by the paranoid leader to dismantle any form of opposition, and strengthen his grip on power.
