Don't Miss

Kim Jong-un poisoned aunt: CNN

May 12, 2015

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s aunt Kim Kyong-hui (Korea Times file)

By Kim Hyo-jin

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had his aunt Kim Kyong-hui poisoned, causing her death, CNN reported Tuesday.

“On May 5th or 6th of last year, Kim Jong-un ordered his aunt to be killed,” CNN quoted a North Korean defector as saying. The defector identified himself as a former aide of Jang Song-thaek, the husband of Kim Kyong-hui.

CNN said the defector is a former senior North Korean official and spoke only on condition of anonymity.

“Only his bodyguard unit, Unit 974, knew this. Now senior officials also know she was poisoned,” he was quoted as saying.

Kim Kyong-hui, wife of Jang Song-thaek who was executed in December 2013, has not been seen in public since September 2013.

Media speculated that Kim’s aunt may have died from a stroke, committed suicide or was in a vegetative state after surgery for a brain tumor.

In February, Rep. Shin Kyoung-min of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy asserted she was still alive, speaking during a parliamentary intelligence committee meeting. He said that the National Intelligence Service confirmed that.

The defector told CNN the young leader wanted to silence his aunt because she complained for months after her husband was killed in December 2013.

Jang, once regarded as North Korea’s No. 2 figure, was executed on charges of treason and corruption.

The CNN source claimed nobody saw Jang’s execution as it was carried out in a secret underground room. He added that 30 aides to Jang and his wife were killed publicly by firing squad.

He said Kim and Jang disagreed on how to spend the regime’s money.

“After a year-and-a-half, Kim Jong-un wanted to build the Masikryong Ski Resort and Munsu Water Park, basing it on his experience in Switzerland. Jang Song-thaek initially agreed… but suggested building up the economy first. That is where the friction began,” CNN quoted the defector as saying.