north-koreaNorth Korean politics

Jang Song-thaek’s Gambling the Reason for his Demotion at heart of North Korean Regime

The uncle of Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s leader, has been stripped of all power for “capitalist crimes”, including a fondness not just for women and drugs, but for mobile casino gambling, too!

Jang Song-thaek has been thought of as the second most powerful man in the Communist state, has come in for some criticism in the past for his capitalist leanings, after being re-educated in a steel mill for alleged corruption. Whether or not this was to fuel his mobile casino habit is unknown, but it’s come back to bite him again.

With online casino laws tight throughout Asia, many gambling lovers have turned to illegal operations to fuel their habit. There have been many recent arrests in neighboring countries, such as Thailand, Japan, and Singapore in recent months, but with North Korea’s media being strictly controlled, it’s hard to see how Jang Song-thaek managed to access his gambling sites.

Yet it is during the former Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commission’s trips abroad that he took advantage of access to mobile slots and table games, and “squandered” foreign currency after becoming “affected by the capitalist way of living”.

Reports suggest that Kim Jong Un had become resentful towards his uncle’s playboy antics, and had resolved to remove him from any position of power as soon as he could. With other senior officials also leaving office, this is a big time of upheaval in North Korean politics, but as ever: we only know what we’re allowed to see.