More purges may follow execution in North Korea

December 13, 2013 at 2:24p.m.

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — The execution of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s uncle brought a swift and violent end to a man long considered the country’s second most powerful figure. But while Jang Song Thaek is now gone, the fallout from his purge is not over. In a stunning reversal of the popular image of Jang as a mentor and father figure guiding young Kim Jong Un as he consolidated power, North Korea’s state-run media announced today he had been executed, portraying him as a morally corrupt traitor who saw the death of Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, in December 2011 as an opportunity to make his own power play.