KoreaWatch.ORG

See "KPA Panmunjom Mission Clarifies Revolutionary Armed Forces 'Principled Stand' http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2009/200905/news27/20090527-16ee.html for full text.

South Korea may have made the first calls to repudiate the Armistice Agreement asked the US to threaten to repudiate the agreement in 1968(NYT Feb 14, 1968 "Seoul Said to Ask The U.S. To Warn North Koreans; Demand for Repudiation of Armistice if Raids Persist Reported Made to Vance..."

However, the current effort by north Korea to replace the Armistice Agreement was identified at least as early as 1994 according to Nicholas D. Kristoff.

In an article titled "North Korea's New Target: The Armistice" published on August 31 1995 in the New York Times, Kristof north Korea's efforts to use brinksmanship against the Armistice Agreement as part of their efforts to force the US to negotiate a peace treaty. He sums up consultant Michael Breen as follows:

"In other words, he said, the North Koreans will use threats and brinmanship to get at least some of what they want, in this case a more normal relationship with the United States."

Also, north Korean claims of a state of war existing over Armistice related issues are also not new.

In 1999, north Korean claimed a "state of war" existed over the state of the Armistice Agreement. See "Vain Attempt" at http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/1998/9810/news10/31.htm

North Korea threatened a state of war over inspections of north Korea ships in October of 2003. See "U.S. Multinational Sea Inspection Flayed" at http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2003/200310/news10/15.htm

See the text of the Armistice Agreement here: http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/korea/kwarmagr072753.html

"It is understandable that some Obama advisors would like the young president to appear tough and resolute. "

"The greater the threat North Korea appears to pose, the more satisfaction it gives that country's leadership and the more diplomatic leverage it confers on the cabal in Pyongyang."

"While North Korea has produced some competent engineers, we know from decades of examining their work, that they don't produce super-scientists, or people capable of the kind of innovation that would enable North Korean cyberwarriors to remain undetected all these years. Thus some conclude that the growing number of North Korean connections are actually the result of Chinese hackers trying to make it look like the North Koreans are responsible for some of the growing number of attacks on Western targets."

However, Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, disagreed, saying Kim is believed to be focusing more on consolidating his support base after being reappointed the country's top leader. Yang said the early naming of his successor would quickly erode Kim's power and "worsen his health condition."'

Source: AP http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iNPD7PlVCZqwghg-OnLXoyjUONhwD97Q2A0O0

Also: North Korea's Kim Jong Il appoints son to National Defense Commission

Continue reading " Kim Jong Un gets low level post" »

Starting his party career as a guidance officer at the Workers' Party Pyongyang chapter, Jang Song Taek, aided by his blood relationship with the Kim Il Sung family, rapidly climbed the party hierarchy. Charged with power abuse in the late 1970s such as holding a weekend party after the pattern of Kim Jong Il, Jang was severely reprimanded by him and demoted to foreman at the Kangsong Steel Co. in Nampo, South Pyongan Province, currently known as the Chollima Steel Integrated Business Establishment. Following over two years of hardship there, during which he sustained burns while on duty, he was permitted to return to the party headquarters in 1980.

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200112/200112070182.html

Updated Dec.7,2001 16:28 KST

“North Korean economic delegation arrives in South Korea.”

Aside from Pak, the delegation includes four ministerial-level officials. The most outstanding name is Jang Song-Taek, brother-in-law of Kim Jong-Il.

Jang, first vice minister of the Worker's Party Organization and Guidance Department, is known to have strong influence over the government and the party in the Stalinist state. Publication: Europe Intelligence Wire

Publication Date: 26-OCT-02

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/premium/0286/0286-26487468.html

A curious tour of South Korea

What we are missing in this economic delegation picture is some explanation for why and how some high-ranking officials were included. Among the notables are Jang Song-taek, the first deputy chief of organization leadership and the Worker's Party Central Committee, and Kim Hi-taek, the first deputy chief of the Workers' Party Central Committee. Since then prime minister Yon Hyung-mok's visit in 1992, they are regarded as the highest-ranking party officials to visit South Korea. Not merely for his brother-in-law relationship with Kim Jong-il, Jang is an influential figure in the North's political hierarchy. So is Kim Hi-taek, in terms of control over the party's organization and apparatus.

Nevertheless, Jang and Kim have kept very low profiles. While doing so they have thoroughly examined the economic capacity of South Korea from manufacturing to high-tech industries as well as the social and living conditions of the South Koreans.

Their activities have many political implications. They could not possibly have been in a better place than in South Korea's own court to survey the upcoming presidential election and other related issues. When they return to their homeland, they will be ready to deal with the South, as well as with concerned foreign states, and possibly with the next president on such issues as the development of Kaesong, Shinuiju, Mount Geumgang, roads and railways. What the delegation takes back home will be revealed in the next round of its talks with the United States, South Korea and Japan

By Jaewoo Choo

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/DK02Dg01.html

Guns or butter?

Not even the most peerless leaders decide alone. So where does Kim Jong-il thrash out his ideas? Not in parliament, of course; that only meets one day a year. Kim seems a Party pooper too. Since he took over after Daddy's death in 1994, neither the Politburo nor the Central Committee of the (nominally) ruling Korean Workers' Party (KWP) has been reported as meeting. Instead, he relies on a kitchen cabinet of trusted cronies: above all his brother-in-law, KWP CC first vice director Jang Song-taek. Who, by the way, was part of a top-level Northern team that spent last week getting a peek at major firms and factories in South Korea (see A curious tour of South Korea, November 2). Hey, what's a nuke or two between blood brothers anyway?

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/DK05Dg01.html
By Aidan Foster-Carter NOV 5 2002

Envoy meets N.K.'s No. 2 on nukes.

A senior South Korean government official said the envoy's scheduled return home today may be delayed by one more day in accordance with "the situation in North Korea." On Monday night, Lim and his delegation attended a dinner hosted by the North Korean side at the Daedonggang banquet hall, central Pyongyang, in which the North Korean Workers' Party Secretary Kim Yong-sun and Kim Jong-il's brother-in-law, Jang Song-taek, were in attendance, Seoul officials said.

Jang, who is considered a key aide to the North Korean leader, came to the South last October as a member of the North's 18-member economic delegation to inspect South Korean manufacturing companies.

Atypically, the dinner lasted for more than five hours. Seoul officials did not elaborate on why.

The dinner followed a meeting between envoy Lim and Secretary Kim, who serves a dual role as chairman of the North's Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, a Workers' Party organization handling inter-Korean business projects.

The North's official Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the two men discussed "issues of mutual concern linked to inter-Korean relations and the grave situation that has formed on the Korean Peninsula." The KCNA also said discussions were held "in an atmosphere overflowing with compatriotic feeling and mutual understanding." Despite its positive response to the inter-Korean talks, the North continued its offensive against the United States while reiterating its call for dialogue with Washington to resolve the nuclear issue.

Publication: Asia Africa Intelligence Wire

Publication Date: 29-JAN-03

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/premium/0286/0286-22384347.html

North's Narcotics Operations Described

According to the article, Jang Song Taek, the first deputy director of the Workers Party Central Committee and the closest confidant of Kim Jong Il, oversees Pyongyang's narcotics operations.

(Choi Heub, pot@chosun.com ) May.20,2003 20:18 KST

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200305/200305200028.html

CHRONOLOGICAL REVIEW (MAY 15-21)

18 North Korean leader Kim Jong-il watches a musical and dance performance staged by family members of servicemen at People's Army units No. 488 and 534, accompanied by three full generals, Ri Myong-su, Hyon Chol-hae, and Pak Jae-gyong, and three first deputy chiefs of the Workers' Party Central Committee: Jang Song-taek, Ri Je-gang, and Choe Chun-hwang.

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-4512422_ITM

COPYRIGHT 2003 Asia Pulse Pte Ltd

Happy Birthday, Dear Leader - who's next in line?By Yoel Sano

Feb 14, 2004

Kim Jong-il has also successfully bound his family to the top ranks of the military structure through his full sister Kim Kyong-hui's husband, Jang Song-taek, who serves as the first vice director of the Korean Workers Party 's organization and guidance department, headed by Kim Jong-il himself. Jang's eldest brother, Jang Song-u, is a KPA vice marshal and commands the Third Army Corps, which surrounds the city of Pyongyang. According to Sin Kyong-wan, a former KWP official, the second-oldest brother, Jang Song-yop, is the vice director of the Kim Il-sung Higher Party School. A younger brother, Jang Song-Gil, is a lieutenant general and tank commander, while the youngest, Jang Song-ho, is a political vice president of the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School - an elite establishment which Kim Jong-il and many top leaders attended. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/FB14Dg04.html

What if Kim Jong-il had been killed?
By Yoel Sano

Apr 24, 2004

Preparations for a collective leadership
With all this in mind, Kim may be preparing the ground for a collective leadership, given that his three sons are either discredited or too young. The US-based International Strategic Studies Association, citing Japanese sources, reported recently that Kim was grooming his 32-year-old nephew - the eldest son of his brother-in-law, Jang Song-taek - as an interim successor at the head of a group leadership that would include Kim Jong-chol and Kim Jong-un.

This is a new line in the Byzantine succession saga, but it seems unlikely to work, given that it risks empowering the Jang family to a level where the leadership could slip from the control of Kim Jong-il or his sons. Jang Song-taek has already been regarded as one of the most powerful men in North Korea, thanks to his marriage to Kim Jong-il's sister Kim Kyong-hui, which has led him to occupy the powerful post of first vice director of the ruling Korean Worker's Party's (KWP) organization and guidance department.

Additionally, Jang's eldest brother, Jang Song-u, is the commander of the military region surrounding Pyongyang, while a younger brother, Jang Song-gil, is also a general. Two other Jang brothers hold posts at North Korean academic and ideological institutions. If Jang Song-taek's son (whose name is unknown outside North Korea) is indeed being groomed as the heir-apparent, even on an interim basis, Kim Jong-il risks seeing his nephew becoming too powerful, to the detriment of his own sons' positions.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/FD24Dg04.html

Another dynastic power transfer in N. Korea?(UPI Science Report)

Kim Jong Il's brother-in-law, Jang Song Taek who was believed to be one of strong candidates for the country's next leader, was also dismissed from the contest and has lived under house arrest, according to the sources.

Jang, husband of Kim's sister Kim Gyong Hi, was arrested on charge of "creating a faction" and has led a tightly guarded life at a guesthouse in a suburb of Pyongyang, they say. Jang has been absent from public views since July last year.

Jang's fate was similar to Kim Yong Ju, younger brother of Kim Il Sung, who competed with Kim Jong Il for the country's leadership 30 years ago but was purged in the wake of a bitter power struggle. The disgraced uncle was forced to spend 20 years in a remote area until the early 1990s.

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-8547006_ITM

Publication: UPI Perspectives

Publication Date: 01-SEP-04

Author: Lee, Jong-Heon

Another Dynastic Power Transfer in North Korea?

Kim Jong-il's brother-in-law, Jang Song-taek, who was believed to be one of the strong candidates for the country's next leader, was also dismissed from the contest and has lived under house arrest, according to the sources. Jang, husband of Kim's sister Kim Gyong-hi, was arrested on a charge of "creating a faction" and has led a tightly guarded life at a guesthouse in a suburb of Pyongyang, they say. Jang has been absent from public views since July last year.

Jang's fate was similar to Kim Yong-ju, younger brother of Kim Il-sung, who competed with Kim Jong-il for the country's leadership 30 years ago but was purged in the wake of a bitter power struggle. The disgraced uncle was forced to spend 20 years in a remote area until the early 1990s.

Publication: World and I

Publication Date: 01-JAN-05

Author: Lee, Jong-Heon

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-15928004_ITM

N. K. leader's brother-in-law returns to hierarchy: report.

Jang Song-taek appeared at a dinner party, hosted by National Defense Commission Chairman Kim, marking the Lunar New Year Saturday, the (North) Korean Central News Agency and the (North) Korean Central Broadcasting Station said. The media reported that Kim attended the party with his senior officials including Jang, first deputy chief of the Workers' Party Central Committee. Kim reportedly disciplined Jang in early 2004 due to activities driven by desire for power. At that time, Jang served as first deputy chief of the powerful Organization and Guidance Department under the central committee. The North Korean leader is also known to have expelled all of Jang's close aides from the party and the cabinet, including Security Minister Choe Ryong-su.

This time, however, Jang is known to have been appointed as first deputy chief of a less powerful committee department in charge of organizing public labor work and managing capital construction, a well-informed source on North Korean affairs said.

Publication: YON - Yonhap News Agency of Korea

Publication Date: 30-JAN-06

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-12537795_ITM

Publication: UPI International Intelligence

Publication Date: 31-JAN-06

Analysis: Kim's confidant returns to power.

Jang is also expected to play a role in promoting economic cooperation with South Korea, Koh and other experts say.

He had long been involved in inter-Korean relations along with Kim Yong-Sun, the party secretary in charge of relations with the South. Cross-border relations have stalled since Kim died in October 2003, following a traffic accident.

"There were no figures who can replace Kim and Jang to take charge of inter-Korean relations," a government official said. "Inter-Korean relations are likely to improve if Jang takes the lead in the North's reform drive," he said.

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-12552281_ITM

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