South Korea expresses 'deep concerns' after execution of Jang Song Thaek

SEOUL, Dec. 13, 2013 - South Korea expressed deep concerns Friday after North Korea announced the surprise execution of leader Kim Jong-un's uncle amid fears about its implications for Pyongyang's future, inter-Korean relations and the standoff over the country's nuclear program.

The execution of Jang Song-thaek came as a surprise, as few had expected the young leader would go as far as executing his uncle just four days after the regime held a political bureau meeting of the ruling Workers Party and removed him from all of his posts.

The North's Korean Central News Agency said earlier Friday that Jang was executed Thursday immediately after a special military tribunal sentenced him to death for "such hideous crimes as attempting to overthrow the state," including contemplating a military-backed coup.

"The government has deep concerns about a recent series of developments in North Korea and is watching the situation closely," Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Eyi-do said after a meeting of security ministers.

"We will make sure to be prepared for all possibilities in the future," the spokesman said, adding that South Korea will work closely together with allies and other related countries in coping with the situation.

Jang had been considered the No. 2 figure in Pyongyang and held a string of high-level posts, including vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission. He was believed to have looked after the young Kim to take over as leader after his father and late leader Kim Jong-il died in 2011.

His execution could have significant implications for Pyongyang's policies.

Jang had been considered a moderate in a regime full of hawkish military generals and an advocated of economic reform. The execution also suggests that a purge campaign against him and his associates is in full swing and more executions could come.

Jang was married to Kim Kyong-hui, the sister of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

In Seoul, presidential national security chief Kim Jang-soo presided over a security ministers' meeting to discuss the execution and its implications for North Korea's future and relations with South Korea and the nuclear standoff.

"There are not many people who expected that an execution would be carried out immediately like this, though we had thought that stern measures would be taken," a government official said on condition of anonymity.

South Korea's military said it has stepped up surveillance on Pyongyang and is maintaining high vigilance against any provocations, though no special movement in the North has been detected yet.

"The Joint Chiefs of Staff has heightened readiness as the North Korean military started winter training earlier this month," a senior military official said. "We have beefed up military readiness and enhanced the system to closely monitor the North's moves."

   Sources said the execution may suggest Kim's grip on power may not be as strong as thought.

Since Jang's fall from power was made known by South Korea's main intelligence agency last week, there have also been concerns that the communist nation could resort to military provocations to increase internal unity.

North Korea's Jang Song Thaek, Kim Jong-un's uncle, executed for abusing his power

PYONGYANG, North Korea -- North Korea said Friday that it had executed Kim Jong Un's uncle as a traitor for trying to seize supreme power, a stunning end for the leader's former mentor, long considered the country's No. 2 official.

In a sharp reversal of the long-held popular image of Jang Song Thaek as a kindly uncle guiding Kim Jong Un as he consolidated power, the North's official Korean Central News Agency indicated that Jang instead saw the death of Kim Jong Il in December 2011 as an opportunity to challenge his nephew and win power.

Jang had been tried and executed, North Korea said, for "attempting to overthrow the state by all sorts of intrigues and despicable methods with a wild ambition to grab the supreme power of our party and state." It called him a "traitor to the nation for all ages" and "worse than a dog."

The unusually detailed announcement came only days after North Korea said it had "eliminated" Jang from all his posts. Despite the strong language and allegations in the announcement on Monday of Jang's fall, there had been no sign in North Korean media of an imminent execution.

Kim Jong-un has overseen other high-profile purges since taking over after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, two years ago. But none of the purges have been as public — or as close to home — as the downfall of Jang.

Jang had been seen by outsiders as the leading supporter of Chinese-style economic reforms and an important link between Pyongyang and Beijing.

In Seoul, top presidential security and government ministers began an unscheduled meeting Friday to discuss Jang's execution and its aftermath, according to the presidential Blue House.

During his two years in power, Kim Jong Un has overseen nuclear and missile tests, other high-profile purges and a barrage of threats this spring, including vows of nuclear strikes against Washington and Seoul. His father, Kim Jong Il, took a much lower public profile when he rose to power after the death of his father, Kim Il Sung, in 1994.

Although the high-level purges could indicate confidence, Victor Cha, a former senior White House adviser on Asia, said he sees signs of "a lot of churn in the system."

"If he has to go as high as purging and then executing Jang, it tells you that everything's not normal in the system," said Cha, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington. "When you take out Jang, you're not taking out just one person — you're taking out scores if not hundreds of other people in the system. It's got to have some ripple effect."

North Korea has recently turned to attempts at diplomacy with South Korea and the United States. But tensions have remained high since Pyongyang's threats in March and April. Those included warnings that it would restart nuclear bomb fuel production.

There was no immediate word about the fate of Jang's wife, Kim Kyong Hui, the younger sister of Kim Jong Il, although some analysts believe that because she is directly related to the nation's founder and has been reportedly ill, she may be spared Jang's fate. She was also seen as an important mentor to Kim Jong Un after her brother's 2011 death.

The White House said it could not independently confirm reports of Jang's execution, but has "no reason to doubt" the report from KCNA.

The KCNA report called Jang a "despicable political careerist and trickster" and "despicable human scum."

Jang was described earlier this week by state media as "abusing his power," being "engrossed in irregularities and corruption," and taking drugs and squandering money at casinos while undergoing medical treatment in a foreign country.

Some analysts were taken aback by the speed of Jang's fall.

"We didn't expect that Kim Jong-un would eliminate Jang Song Thaek so quickly," said Lim Eul Chul, a North Korea expert at South Korea's Kyungnam University.

"North Korea's announcement (about Jang) is like an acknowledgement that Kim Jong-un's government is still in a transitional period," he said.

Jang was described earlier this week by state media as "abusing his power," being "engrossed in irregularities and corruption," and taking drugs and squandering money at casinos while undergoing medical treatment in a foreign country.

Abdul Qadir Mullah Hanged to Death in Bangladesh

Dhaka: Abdul Kader Mullah  a senior Islamist leader known as the “Butcher of Mirpur”, has been hanged in Bangladesh for his involvement in war crimes during 1971 war of independence, international media reports confirmed.

The Bangladeshi Islamist convicted of crimes against humanity during the country’s 1971 war of independence, has lost his final appeal against death penalty and local reports have said he could be executed after sunset.

The Bangladesh Supreme Court threw out a last-minute petition asking for a review of the death penalty on the Jamaat-e-Islami party leader and said the ruling will pave the way for his hanging.

Mullah, whose conviction and initial sentence of life imprisonment in February had triggered violent street protests in Bangladesh that killed about 100 people.

It is also expected to deepen political turmoil across the country, where the ruling Awami League has been unable to reach agreement with the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP), an ally of JI, over acceptable conditions for holding forthcoming national elections.

The elections, scheduled for January, have been boycotted by the opposition, which has pressed for a neutral caretaker government and complained that their leaders and activists are being persecuted by the ruling party. Most of the men convicted for war crimes over the past four years are top opposition leaders.

Sheikh Yousuf Harun, chief government administrator in Dhaka, last night confirmed that Mollah had been hanged at 10.01pm local time. It caught the nation by surprise with much of the lead-up cloaked in secrecy. Earlier, jail authorities had not informed the media about the time when Mollah will be executed.

“Around 9.00pm, security was strengthened around the jail premises,” said Iqbal Mahmud, a journalist in Bangladesh, who was near the central jail reporting on the incident. “Nobody except for media personnel were being allowed near the jail,” he added.

Just after 10pm the media was informed by the prison authorities that Mollah had been executed. The ambulance, carrying Mollah’s dead body, left the prison around 11.15pm. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh had denied Mollah’s petition for review of the death row ruling.

A five-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Muzammel Hossain, dismissed the petition. “There are no further obstacles to implement the verdict as the review [petition] has been dismissed,” the Attorney General, Mahbubey Alam, explained to the media.

An hour before the execution was carried out, the barrister Abdur Razzaq, who headed Mollah’s defence, told The Independent: “We have come to the end of the road. There is nothing more we can do. But, we hope they will follow the jail code.”

By the prison code, a convicted criminal awaiting execution is provided a week’s duration to seek mercy from the President of the country.

However, legal counsel had explained to the media that code would not apply for Mollah’s verdict, which was given under the International Crimes Tribunal, formed in 2010 to investigate and prosecute suspects for atrocities committed in 1971 against the then-East Pakistan populace by the Pakistan Army and their local collaborators.

During the nine-month long bloody war, at least three million people are said to have been killed and more than 200,000 women raped in the country that is now Bangladesh.

The International Crimes Tribunal had found Mollah guilty on 5 February of killing a student, a family of 11 members and for collaborating with Pakistani forces to kill 369 others during Bangladesh war of independence in 1971.

Although Mollah was sentenced to life imprisonment, the Supreme Court changed the verdict to death sentence in September.

Today also saw security officials detain the former President and military dictator H M Ershad two hours after Mollah’s execution.

Mr Ershad, who ruled the country for nearly nine years until 1990, when he was overthrown in a mass movement. He was brought to a military headquarters in Dhaka by security forces. Authorities would not say immediately why he was detained.

It marked a dramatic day that also saw party activists clash with police, torch and smash vehicles in three other major cities – Chittagong, Sylhet and Rajshahi, television stations reported.

Scores of people were reportedly injured in the latest violence to hit the country, which has seen weeks of escalating tension as it struggles to overcome extreme poverty and rancorous politics.

Bloody history: Bangladeshi independence

The nation of Bangladesh was born out of a brutal civil war with Pakistan that remains one of the bloodiest – and least well-known – conflicts of the 20th century. Bangladesh was previously the eastern wing of Pakistan, which itself had become an independent state after India’s partition in 1947.

By 1971, the country was in a bitter war of independence; and Bangladesh, which was already detached from the main body of the country, formed its own state. But the conflict was brutal. The government claims that Pakistani soldiers, aided by local collaborators, killed three million people and raped 200,000 women during a nine-month war.

The conflict left a deep scar on the country, and the government set up the first tribunal in 2010, saying trials were needed to truly heal wounds. Pakistan has never officially apologised to Bangladesh or taken responsibility for the atrocities.