article_snippet.sent: In 2013, Kim shocked the country and stunned outside observers when Kim ordered the killing of Kim uncle, Jang Song Thaek, who had stood by Kim side from the day Kim father died.
article_snippet.sent: Jang had mentored and guided the young Kim as Jang took the reins, but the once-powerful Jang was arrested by soldiers during a Politburo meeting who dragged Jang away in a chilling scene broadcast on national television.
article_snippet.sent: The central news agency called Jang a "traitor for all the ages," with vague accusations that the once-powerful Jang had behaved "insolently.
article_snippet.sent: More seriously, the once-powerful Jang was accused of "counter-revolutionary factional acts in a bid to overthrow the leadership.
article_snippet.sent: And just this week, and only a day before the Russians announced Kim's canceled travel plans, a South Korea lawmaker revealed that South Korea National Intelligence Service had pieced together information suggesting that so far this year, Kim has ordered the execution of 15 senior government officials.
article_snippet.sent: According to South Korean legislator Shing Kyung-min, South Korea vice chairman of the State Planning Commission, for example, was executed because a South Korea lawmaker objected to plans to change the design of a new government hall from a rounded shape to one resembling a flower.