Washington D.C. ( CNN ) -- Pyongyang announced on December 12 the trial and execution of Jang Sung-taek , former vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission and uncle to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un . Although Kim has already purged hundreds of officials during his two year reign , Jang 's ouster is highly unusual , even by North Korean standards . Jang is married to the sister of the late leader Kim Jong-il and it had been expected he would be safe from a purge until after her death . In the past , when members of the North Korean senior leadership strata were purged , they usually simply stopped appearing in North Korean media . Instead , the BBC and other media reports showed that Jang was first erased from existing official photos and videos in tactics reminiscent of the Stalin-era Soviet Union . North Korea stability fears after execution . Jang was arrested during a special meeting of the leadership with the photos and lengthy list of his crimes promulgated to the North Korean public . That Jang was executed was also rare for someone in the inner circle of power . While Kim is emulating the power politics of his father and grandfather , he has taken it to new levels of brutality . In addition to Jang -- previously referred to as the `` second most powerful man in North Korea , '' Kim replaced both the minister of defense and chairman of the general staff . Clearly , no one is safe from Kim 's wrath . According to South Korean media reports , Kim Chol , the vice minister of the army , was executed last year per Kim 's dictate to leave `` no trace of him , not even his hair , '' though it is not clear exactly how he was killed . Some reports suggest he was executed with a mortar round during the official mourning period after Kim Jong-il 's death . Jang -- the `` despicable human scum who was worse than a dog '' -- was accused of plotting a coup to `` overthrow the state [ and ] to grab the supreme power of our party and state . '' Perhaps . But had Jang wanted to grab the ring of power he would have had more success immediately after Kim 's father 's death in December 2011 , before his son acquired the six titles conferring power over the state , party , and military . How Kim Jong Un got rid of his uncle . It is more likely that the accusation of treason -- as well as the litany of his personal foibles of gambling , drugs , womanizing , pornography , and drinking -- were to undermine Jang 's reputation and justify the execution . An uncle 's ambition cut short . The young Kim also used the purge to make Jang the scapegoat for North Korea 's economic problems . Jang was described as controlling all major economic fields of the country and accused of scheming `` to drive the economy of the country and people 's living into an uncontrollable catastrophe . '' Jang was then able to be blamed for the disastrous currency revaluation of 2009 , poor construction in Pyongyang , selling off of the Rason economic zone and precious resources at low prices , and creating `` a great confusion in financial management system of the state . '' So much for the political and economic reform that some experts predicted Kim would implement , as they had similarly predicted about his father . Jang 's accusation emphasized the `` the unitary leadership ( and ) absolute authority '' of Kim Jong Un . '' The military court derided Jang 's `` despicable true colors as ( economic ) reformist known to the outside world . '' Jang 's `` cunning and sinister means '' were compared with the `` strategic patience policy and waiting strategy of the U.S. and the south Korean puppet group of traitors . '' If there was any lingering naive doubt that Kim would be just as merciless as his father and grandfather , it died along with Jang . During his two years in power , he has escalated the subjugation of the populace . He has increased public executions , expanded the gulags for political prisoners , and increased government punishment for people caught with information from the outside world . Photos show scale of North Korea 's repressive prison camps . Earlier this year , Kim showed that he is willing to go even higher than his father in raising tension on the Korean Peninsula . Pyongyang threatened U.S. military bases in the wider region with nuclear attacks . He also warned of tactical attacks on South Korean targets . He defied U.N. Security Council resolutions by conducting nuclear and long-range missile launches and was credited by the official North Korean media as being the mastermind behind Pyongyang 's two deadly attacks on South Korea in 2010 . Threats of annihilation normal for South Koreans . The United States should have no illusions about Kim . His government vows it will never abandon its nuclear weapons and Pyongyang continues to augment and refine its nuclear and missile arsenals . South Korea 's minister of defense believes Pyongyang 's missiles can already reach the continental United States . The North Korean threat -- always high -- has gotten worse under the young leader . He is just as dangerous as his father -- and less predictable . The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of Bruce Klingner .
Kim was vice chairman of the top military body and married to Jang 's aunt . Jang state media say Jang was convicted of treason and executed . Jang Sung-taek was arrested at a special meeting of the leadership and a lengthy list of crimes published . Kim : Likely the accusation of treason was to undermine Jang 's reputation .