With the North Korean leader not
seen in public for more than a month, rumours of a palace coup are rife. But
evidence from inside the country suggests otherwise, says Christopher Green
By Christopher Green
 |
| Hwang Pyong-so arrives in Incheon for the closing ceremony of the Incheon Asian Games.Photograph: YONHAP/EPA |
Kim Jong-un is said to be ill, with
suggestions that his sister, Kim Yo-jong, is signing off on decisions in his
absence.
The appearance of three senior
North Koreans in South Korea
at the closing ceremony of the Asian Games has caused quite a stir. One of them
has links to sport and another to relations with Seoul ,
so both had reasons to make the trip. But it’s the presence of the third, Hwang
Pyong-so, that has caused the most consternation.
Hwang is a member of the North
Korea ’s Organisation and Guidance Department(OGD),
which wields immense power in the country, with some observers claiming it
represents a rival source of authority to the young leader, Kim Jong-un.
Kim Jong-un’s absence from the
victory parade in Pyongyang for
athletes returning from the Games only added to the speculation.
The leader has not been seen in
public since 3 September, missing high-profile events including the
celebrations for founding day of the Democratic People’s Republic
of North Korea
Formal acknowledgement in a
television documentary that Kim is suffering from “discomfort” did nothing to
dampen the rumours that he has been subject to a palace coup.
The speculation stems from
remarks from a former high-ranking North Korean official turned defector, Jang
Jin-sung, suggesting the OGD has seized control, leaving Kim as a figurehead.
For many commenters, Hwang’s
surprise appearance at the closing ceremony of the Asian Games was enough to
provide evidence of Kim Jong-un’s downfall – both because of Hwang’s seniority
and the unlikeliness of his trip to the south.
Neither of Hwang’s two public
titles, director of the Korean People’s Army general political department and
vice-chair of the National Defence Commission, have anything to do with sport. His
position within the OGD is not well known, but the fact that a person with
these ties would appear in the heart of South Korean territory was seen as
proof of a powerful shake-up at the top.
But there is a less dramatic
explanation. Based on the video evidence of his limp, it is widely accepted
that Kim is now receiving medical treatment – possibly at one of the family’s
well-appointed villas. The Seoul-based defector group, North Korea
Intellectuals’ Solidarity, claims that Kim Yo-jong, his younger sister who
acted as an aide to their father Kim Jong-il during his final years, is signing
off on decisions in his absence.
Yet claims that Kim has been
toppled are not supported by reports of internal North Korean lectures
explaining the surprise visit to the Games. DailyNK, a South Korean media
organisation staffed in part by defectors who have sources in the North, says
civilians were gathered at workplaces and housing complexes on Saturday
afternoon to hear the government’s explanation for the trip.
“Senior party and military cadres
were dispatched all the way [to the Asian Games] for our athletes, who, without
exception, honoured the Fatherland with their indomitable fighting spirit,” one
lecturer explained. “With his great love and compassion, Marshal Kim Jong-un
personally organised their dispatch, and provided them with a special plane,”
she added.
The text for these lectures, a
regular feature of life in North Korea ,
is produced centrally for dispatch throughout the land, and delivered without
deviation. Not attending public lectures and teaching sessions is, officially
at least, not an option – as mandated by theTen Principles for the
Establishment of the One-ideology System.
The result is that almost all
North Koreans hear the same stories and lies, and remain on-message, however
far they may be from the capital. In the absence of verifiable information on
Kim’s status, they offer vital insight into what Pyongyang
wants the country’s people to believe.
The suggestion that he is still
at the helm, nominally at least, is supported by Choson Sinbo, an online
publication run by the pro-North association of Korean residents in Japan ,
which reported that the visit to Incheon was “made possible by the resolve of
Kim Jong-un”.
Also, the domestic North Korean
media has barely reported on the trip at all. However, it has focused on the
medal winning exploits of the country’s athletes at the Asian Games, with the
official mouthpiece Rodong Sinmun singing one song loudly and clearly: the
country’s sporting prowess is all down to the “energetic guidance” of one man: Kim
Jong-un.
So despite the rumour mill, the
North Korean message is still of Kim’s benevolent greatness. In elite circles
his authority may be fragile, but that is a different question, one of the
distribution of power in a dictatorship. It should not be confused with control
over society. Publicly at least, the Kim dynasty remains in complete control.
