His methods included a low threshold for possible guilt making informal meetings of members of his inner circle a crime arresting (and in some cases executing) wives as a loyalty test requiring signed confessions through torture if necessary playing one deputy off against another dividing and conquering by repressing one group while expressing confidence in others not sparing his own relatives and childhood friends and carving out no exceptions for women. Potential plotters must be made fearful of recruiting others willing to challenge the leader and must believe that their chances of success are small. He must impose an extreme cost on those plotting or even thinking of moving against him. The leader understands this danger and must take measures to thwart these threats to his life. As the number of executions grows and their seemingly arbitrary nature becomes apparent, members of the inner circle grow tempted to plot against the leader, not from thirst for power but for personal survival. They both died of natural causes.Īvoiding assassination while killing off your inner circle is not easy. He would like to follow in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps. So far, there have been no credible reports of attempts on the North Korean leader’s life, only fanciful rumors. There were no known assassination attempts on his life. Despite killing off a substantial portion of his inner circle, many of whom were military officers and secret police with access to arms, Stalin died of a stroke on his couch. Stalin pulled off a remarkable feat, which Kim Jong-un hopes to match. In his short rule since 2011, Kim Jong-un has executed 341 persons, 130 of whom were “government officials.” Although we cannot calculate an exact percentage, Un, like Stalin, has executed a significant portion of his 303 person-strong central committee. Stalin had almost 70 percent of the 139 central committee members elected in 1934 executed. Both were prolific murderers of their inner circle. We cannot penetrate the veil of secrecy that shrouds the Hermit Kingdom, but we can use the well-documented history of Stalin’s repression to draw parallels-and note the differences-between the USSR of the 1930s and the North Korea of the present day.īoth Stalin and Kim Jong-un used extreme terror to remain in power. The most sensational case was the recent brazen poisoning of the “Outstanding Leader” Kim Jong-un’s half-brother Kim Jong-nam in a Malaysian airport. The Hermit Kingdom of North Korea is known for its eccentricity, nuclear and missile programs, desperate poverty, and, increasingly, for the execution of its elite.
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