The Kim family saga continues:

Apparently Young Un, my name for Kim Jong Un, has no plans to kill his aunt.   Kim Kyong Hui  has been named to an ad-hoc state committee with other top officials planning the state funeral committee for Kim Kuk Thae, a senior Party official who died Friday.

So what do we make of this?   Kim Kyong Hui was said to be “close” to the Fear* Leader, Kim Il sung.   When Young Un was elevated ot his father’s successor as Great Leader, Auntie and Uncle Jang were described as the powers behind the throne,  helping to groom Kim Jong Un.

Analyst Hong Hyun-ik from South Korea suggests that  Kim Kyong Hui consented to Jang’s death sentence.  Why would she do this? One possibility is marital problems.  Young Un’s government has charged Uncle Jang with womanizing and rumors support the charge that  Kim and Jang, who married in 1972, had a dysfunctional marriage.  Their only daughter committed suicide in 2006 while studying in Paris, according to South Korean media reports.  KOrean media have reported that  that she suffers liver, heart and other ailments. Perhaps Jag just turned to some other woman?

The publicity surrounding Jang’s execution was shocking because North Korea rarely  publicizes its internal affairs, much less the execution of senior officials. The North Korean press releases and observers outside the hermit kingdom speculate that the moves were aimed at strengthening Kim’s power, but that makes no sense.  Why scream about Jang’s misdeeds if the intent is not for Young Un and Aunties Kim to see revenge?

As an utter amateur in North Korean affairs but having experience with rather hateful activities in my own family, I suggest that the most likely explanation is Freudian. Young Un must be in awe of his own lineage, his father and grandfather were gods.  Trying to live up to that standard, to see himself as the object of worship by   25,000,000 people, must be hard.  Auntie Kim is not only a surviving daughter of the Founding Leader, Kim Il Sung, she mothered Young Un, the anger he must have felt against his Uncle would have to have been truly divine.

* Fear Leader is a trademark of TA. 2013