North Korea: Empire of Horror

How much is factual and how much is Western propaganda? It's tough to tell what exactly is going on when North Korea is the most secret nation on the face of our planet and there are not enough people alive outside that country who can tell us the actual state of affairs inside it.  

Was the uncle executed because of his "depraved" ways or was he planning a coup in cahoots with South Korea and Western powers?  I am inclined to think the later.  It works both ways for the truth to be kept hidden.  North Korea will not want to show that there can be a real possibility of a regime change and South Korea plus their allies involved in the plot to overthrow the regime will want to keep hidden the fact that their main "conspirator" in North Korea is done away with.  

Harriet Alexander writing at TelegraphUK:
Kim Jong-un's execution  of his uncle has been seen as a brutal demonstration of who is in power. But behind the scenes, are Kim Kyung-hui and Ri Sol-ju, Kim Jong-un's aunt and wife, pulling the strings in North Korea?

In the scant collection of carefully-staged photos that emerge from North Korea, Jang Song-thaek was everywhere.
At the funeral of Kim Jong-il, marching directly behind Kim Jong-un, the newly anointed Dear Leader; on an escalator, visiting a shopping centre to glorify the triumph of the regime; dressed in the uniform of a full general whispering words of wisdom into the ear of the world’s youngest head of state.
Now Jang, Mr Kim’s uncle and one of North Korea’s most powerful men, has been erased.
The reclusive communist state confirmed his execution on Thursday. The 30-year-old Mr Kim, it appeared, was demonstrating in no uncertain terms who really ran the show.
But another tantalising suggestion is crystallising. Was Jang’s death by firing squad a sign that the real power behind the throne lies with the two women in Mr Kim’s life?

"The final decision on Jang Song-thaek was made by Kim Jong-un and Jang’s wife, Kim Kyung-hui," said Lee Yun-keol, the head of the North Korea Strategic Information Service Centre, based in Seoul. "Jang was chosen as a prey by his wife and nephew to maintain the Kim dynasty regime."

The 67-year-old Kim Kyung-hui is a force to be reckoned with – daughter of the country’s first leader, sister of its second and aunt of its third........