The brother-in-law of North Korea’s Kim Jong-il has become even more powerful since Kim fell sick, officials and analysts say, with some believing he is effectively standing in for the supreme leader.
The influence of Jang Song-taek has become greater than ever since Kim was reportedly hit by a stroke, Cheong Seong-chang, of South Korea’s private Sejong Institute think-tank, said yesterday.
“Jang is apparently in charge of receiving orders from Kim and channeling them [to state agencies],” he said.
A senior South Korean intelligence official went further, saying Jang was acting like a stand-in in day-to-day state affairs.
Kim, the absolute ruler of his hardline communist state, has never publicly designated a successor to run his impoverished but nuclear-armed nation.
After he failed to appear at a key parade on Sept. 9, South Korean and US officials said he had suffered a stroke around mid-August.
Tokyo Broadcasting System, citing a US intelligence source, said yesterday that the 66-year-old suffered a second stroke late last month. South Korean officials could not confirm the report.
North Korean state media has recently issued a series of photos of Kim, in an apparent attempt to end speculation about his health. But they have all been undated.
One which was issued last week had been digitally altered to superimpose Kim’s image on a military group, experts said.
The intelligence official, speaking on a radio talk show on Monday on condition of anonymity, said Jang, 62, is now in full charge of the security and police agencies including the dreaded secret police.
“That’s why people say Jang is in effect No. 2 in terms of real power in the North,” he said.
He said Jang has a range of contacts within both the ruling party and the military.
“Based on these facts, intelligence authorities here suspect Jang is acting like a stand-in for the chairman,” he said.
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