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This undated file picture from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Il (L) with brother-in-law Jang Song Thaek to his right, on an inspection trip to Mt. Ryongak Recreation Ground in Pyongyang. (KCNA/AFP/Getty Images)
Even though Kim Jong Un, heir to the North Korean leadership, was named the country’s supreme commander of the military, Pyongyang observers suggest that his uncle will play a strong role behind the young leader.
Kim Jong Un was shooed in as the impoverished communist country’s great leader last week after his father, Kim Jong Il was reported dead due to an apparent heart attack.
However, keen observers of the hermit kingdom noted that in state television footage of a ceremony to pay respects to the body of the late Great Leader, standing next to the successor-son was his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, reported South Korea’s Yonhap news.
Jang Song Thaek was brother-in-law to Kim Jong Il and one of his key confidants. The footage also shows him wearing a military uniform with the insignia of general, suggesting a recent promotion, though there has been no public announcement.
The footage is the first to ever show Jang in a military uniform instead of his usual business suit, reported Reuters.
A source close to North Korea’s regime told the news agency that the country will be ruled as a collective, with Jong Un as the head. This marks a change from the Kim Jong Il’s rule as he single-handedly ruled the country as a strongman dictator.
In mid-2010, Jang became the vice chair of the National Defense Commission and twice joined Kim Jong Il on trips to China. A few months later he became a member of the Central Military Commission.
Both Jang and Kim’s sister Kim Kyong Hui had “disappeared” from the country’s political limelight for 2000s only to resurface later, making public appearances.
Jang and his wife are considered keys to making a successful power transfer from Kim Jong Il’s regime to a new one under his youngest son, who is considered a political novice. North Korea is the world’s only communist family dynasty.
The implication being drawn by North Korea experts is that the third generation of Kim family rulers will continue with the same rule of a strong arm military. North Korea has an active duty military of about 1.2 million people, out of a population of just under 24.5 million.
