South Korean news sources reported that North Korean authorities have dragged family members of Kim Jong-un’s uncle, Jang Song-theak — the uncle who was executed by order of the dictator for various crimes against the country — from their homes and shot them.
The Daily Mail reported that Mr. Jang’s sister, Jang Kye-Sun, her husband, Jon Yong-Jin — who was an ambassador to Cuba — and Mr. Jang’s nephew, Jang Yojng-Chol, an ambassador to Malaysia, were all shot. Mr. Jang’s two sons were also killed, the news outlet reported. Yonhap News Agency reported that the children and grandchildren of Mr. Jang’s two brothers were also killed.
“Some relatives were shot to death by pistol in front of other people if they resisted while being dragged out of their apartment homes,” one source said to the Yonhap News Agency.
Another source said: “The executions of Jang’s relatives mean that no traces of him should be left. The purge of the Jang Song-thaek people is under way on an extensive scale from relatives and low-level officials.”
The report from Yonhap News Agency has not yet been confirmed. But it’s fairly common in North Korea’s “guilt by association” culture for the punishment of one to be extended to family members — for decades in the future, The Daily Mail reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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