‘Cold but shrewd’: Kim Jong-un cements power in North Korea by eliminating potential rival
Kim Jong-un has had a “standing order” to kill Kim Jong-nam since he took power in 2011
While much remains mysterious about the assassination of Kim Jong-un’s half-brother in Malaysia this week, this much is clear: nearly all of the North Korean dictator’s potential rivals are now dead.
In the nation’s patriarchal dynasty, Kim Jong-nam, 45, represented a possible alternative if elites ever moved to oust Kim Jong-un, 33. The older brother had lived outside North Korea for years, frequenting casinos in Macau and occasionally criticising his younger sibling’s regime. His only other brother, Kim Jong-chol, 35, isn’t seen as a main threat to usurp power.
Malaysian police arrested a female suspect carrying Vietnamese travel documents on Wednesday, and they are looking for others who may be involved. While there is no evidence yet linking the murder to Kim Jong-un, South Korean lawmakers and observers of the secretive regime see him as the clear winner.
[Kim Jong-un] lives a nightmare version of Machiavellian court politics every day, and bloodline is still the strongest claim to legitimate rule in North Korea
“Did Kim Jong-un order the assassination? Yes, almost certainly,” said Van Jackson, a former US Department of Defence adviser who now teaches at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies in Honolulu. “He lives a nightmare version of Machiavellian court politics every day, and bloodline is still the strongest claim to legitimate rule in North Korea: eliminating potential centres of power is cold but shrewd.”
The murder has raised questions about the stability of Kim Jong-un’s regime as he seeks the ability to strike the US and other potential threats with nuclear weapons. US President Donald Trump has vowed to deal with the threat “strongly” and has called on China – North Korea’s prime ally – to do more to pressure the dictator.
Still, pressuring Kim without triggering the country’s collapse isn’t easy. The Kim family dynasty has ruled North Korea for three generations since its founding after the second world war, when the Soviet Union and the US divided up control of the Korean peninsula. Over that time, it has built up one of the world’s most vigorous personality cults.
The birthdays of founder Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il are North Korea’s biggest national holidays. The country has held mass propaganda events involving tens of thousands of people to praise the Kim family. Those caught denigrating the country’s leaders can be either sent to prison or put to death.