It has now been over a week since South

Korea’s spy agency announced North Korea’s defense minister Hyon Yong Chol had

been publicly executed. The North has slammed Seoul for giving Pyongyang the

label of ‘fear-based politics,’ claiming it is an offense to the ‘highest

dignity.’ Images of Hyon have remained intact in North Korea’s documentaries

airing on state-run television, but seeing that Pyongyang has not been able to

produce fresh images of the defense minister, most have come to believe he is

no longer alive. The debate on whether he actually was executed by

anti-aircraft guns lingers, but that seems to be beside the point.

Fate of Ri Yong Ho, Jang Song Thaek, and

Hyon Yong Chol

Some of the most high-profile executions carried

out under the Kim Jong Un regime are of key figures Ri Yong Ho, Jang Song

Thaek, and Hyon Yong Chol. They are all tied together in the fact that the

killings were used to boost Kim’s leadership. By removing powerful members in

central posts, Kim Jong Un was not only able to solidify the foundation of his

governance but send a message to others. However, the purge of Hyon is not

quite the same as the previous two figures mentioned.

In the case of Ri Yong Ho, the former Chief

of the General Staff in the Chosun People’s Army [KPA], he was tapped by Kim Jong Il

as a patron of the younger Kim Jong Un to help him secure his leadership. The

much older heavyweight, in other words, was tasked with aiding the ‘young

king.’ However, from the new leader’s point of view, Ri would have come with a

burdensome presence. This is because he would simply never have been a puppet

sitting at the feet of the young Kim. Ri’s purge can, therefore, be seen as a

political calculation to weaken the power of the military and help strengthen

the fledgling dictatorship.

Jang Song Thaek would have also been as

difficult a figure to Kim Jong Un. As Kim’s uncle, he would have watched the

young leader grow up. Having seen the young Kim from the years when he played

with his toys, almost without doubt, Jang would not have accepted all of his

decisions as the final word. It would have also been hard for Kim to order

around his uncle. Under whatever circumstances, Jang could not have been an

absolute follower of the young leader. Although through brutal means, the

execution of Jang ensured that a strong message would be passed on to all power

elite in the country, showing that ‘anyone who does not display absolute

subordination to the highest leader cannot evade death.’ By killing his uncle,

Kim was able to tout his absolute power not only within but also outside of the

country.

When it comes to Hyon Yong Chol, though, it

is hard to find the same underlying political meaning found in the previous

cases. However high a military official Hyon may have been, he would have still

been an absolute follower of Kim Jong Un. Nothing indicates that the power Hyon

once held within the country posed any limitations on Kim’s governance. In this

same vein, there is also no indication that his death would help boost Kim’s

power by any means. Hyon’s sudden execution may have sent a warning to others,

demonstrating that anyone who falls out of favor of the leadership can easily

be killed, but that is simply an abuse of power rather than any form of political

strife that would lead to a stronger leadership.

Demise of scapegoat Hyon Yong Chol

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service

cited Hyon’s nodding off at a military training event as one of his acts of

insubordination that led to his execution. In North Korea, dozing off while the

leader is delivering a speech can very well be considered a crime. However, it

is more reasonable to believe it was not his drowsiness that had him killed but

complaints about the young leader that he may have secretly expressed in

private settings that were exposed by the State Security Department. Whatever

‘insubordination’ the minister may have displayed, the subsequent execution took

things one step too far. The unfortunate downfall of Hyon stems more from Kim’s

brutality rather than his own misdoing.

North Korea’s society, from all aspects of

civilian life to the military, is based on tightly knit webs of surveillance

that would make it very difficult for any collective revolt to take place. The

assertion that a military coup is impossible in the North stems from this

unique trait. However, fear-instilling politics and chasms between the leadership and power elite could produce factors of

unpredictability. History has always proven it unfolds in ways most unexpected

by people of its time.

*Views expressed in Guest Columns do not necessarily reflect those of Daily NK.