Kim Ousts Key Relative, a Potential Rival, From N. Korean Government

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il recently purged his brother-in-law from the government, removing a powerful party official who was thought to be a possible rival to Kim and his sons, South Korean intelligence officials have reported.

North Korea watchers here had bandied the name of 58-year-old Chang Sung Taek as somebody whom the international community might consider a more palatable leader than Kim.

The purge is one of several measures Kim has taken this year to consolidate his hold over what is in effect a dynastic rule. Among other important changes, North Korea has reportedly adopted a new criminal code that increases penalties for people who express criticism of the government or bring in banned books, videos or music from the outside.

North Korea specialists say such measures are not necessarily a sign of the secretive regime’s weakness; on the contrary, they show that Kim can still mold the bureaucracy according to his whims.

“It leads you to believe that stability is not that big of a problem after all,” said a Western diplomat, who asked not to be quoted by name.

South Korean intelligence officials testified to the legislature here Nov. 25 that they had confirmed rumors that Chang had been removed from public life. He is believed to be under house arrest, and dozens of his aides and relatives have been purged or demoted.

Chang, the husband of Kim’s younger sister, Kim Kyong Hui, was well connected in North Korea’s two most powerful institutions, the ruling Korean Workers’ Party and the military. He held the obscure-sounding post of chief of the party’s organization and guidance bureau but was believed to be second in command of the party behind Kim Jong Il.

Chang has two older brothers who until recently held top jobs in the army. One of them, Chang Song U, headed the army division charged with defending the capital, Pyongyang.

Chang Sung Taek “was one of the rare people who was in a position to take control of both the party and the military. And as a brother-in-law, he had Kim Jong Il’s special trust,” said Cheong Seong Chang, an academic who serves as an advisor to the South Korean government on North Korean matters.

Reports of Chang’s purge surfaced in March. His downfall might have begun last year when Hwang Jang Yop, the North’s highest-ranking defector, testified to South Korea’s legislature that Chang could be installed in Kim’s place in the event of a coup d’etat. Even more damning praise came from a South Korean magazine, Shindonga Monthly, which in September 2003 featured Chang in an article titled, “The U.S. Scenario of Changing the Leadership.”

In 2002, Chang led an economic delegation visiting Seoul and reportedly made a good impression on South Koreans, Cheong said.

The 63-year-old Kim Jong Il is believed to grooming one of his two younger sons, 23-year-old Kim Jong Chul or 21-year-old Kim Jong Woon, as his successor.

Kim Jong Chul was recently named to the Workers’ Party bureau in charge of propaganda and appeared to be following the same gradual path to power through the hierarchy as Kim Jong Il had when he was groomed to succeed his father, Kim Il Sung.

Koh Young Hwan, a North Korea scholar at Dongguk University in Seoul, said, “Kim Jong Il isn’t really in a position to name a successor because his own leadership isn’t fully settled with the people. So I think what you are seeing are his efforts to reinforce his authoritarian power.”

Koh said it was also possible that Chang had been punished for growing too powerful but might be rehabilitated by Kim.

More changes are expected in the coming months, particularly in the Workers’ Party structure.

The changes in the criminal code call for a tightening of political controls, but other measures are said to promote privatization and free trade. The code, adopted in April but just reported this week in South Korean media, also cuts from three years to two the prison terms for people who try to defect to China for economic reasons.

The recent removal of some Kim Jong Il portraits from public places in Pyongyang frequented by foreigners prompted speculation last month that the North Korean leader was losing his hold on power. A consensus now appears to be emerging that any changes in the portraits were ordered by Kim long ago to soften the personality cult that is so frequently ridiculed by foreigners.