On 8 December, Jang Song-thaek was publicly expelled from the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), with state media attributing this to a decision of the Politburo.
Jang's arrest at a politburo meeting was broadcast on Korean Central Television, the state television broadcaster, in "the most public dismissal.. in history" of a prominent North Korean official,[REF][REF] and the first time since the 1970s that a senior politician was arrested in a party meeting on live television [REF].