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Wong Maye-E/AP
In this July 27, 2013 file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, is followed by his uncle Jang Song Thaek, second from left, and Yang Hyong Sop, left, vice president of the Presidium of North Korea’s parliament, as he tours the newly opened Fatherland Liberation War Museum as part of celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice in Pyongyang, North Korea.
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Monday acknowledged the purge of leader Kim Jong Un‘s powerful uncle on allegations of corruption, drug use and a long list of other “anti-state” acts.
The lengthy dispatch by state media apparently ends the career of the country’s second most powerful official and leaves Kim Jong Un without a man long considered his mentor as he consolidated power after his father’s death two years ago.
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Jang Song Thaek formed a faction in the ruling party “by creating an illusion about him” and distorting and weakening party goals, the dispatch said.
Jang was described as “abusing his power,” being “engrossed in irregularities and corruption,” having “improper relations with women,” taking drugs, and gambling at casinos while undergoing medical treatment in a foreign country.
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South Korean intelligence officials said days ago that two of Jang’s aides had been executed for corruption, and a recent state documentary in the North had all images of Jang removed.
