North Korean Leader’s Top Enforcer Is Now the One Getting Purged

~ Trần Đình Hoành
By CHOE SANG-HUN FEB. 3, 2017

The leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, at an undisclosed location in January. The decision by Mr. Kim to purge his top enforcer highlights the turmoil that has engulfed the upper reaches of his regime. Korean Central News Agency, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

SEOUL, South Korea — The chief of North Korea’s powerful secret police, long considered the right-hand man for the top leader, Kim Jong-un, has been dismissed on charges of corruption and abuse of power, the South Korean government said on Friday.

The firing of the chief, Gen. Kim Won-hong, as minister of state security highlights the turmoil that has engulfed the upper reaches of Mr. Kim’s government. The general is the latest in a series of high-ranking party and military officials Mr. Kim has fired, demoted or executed as he tried to consolidate his totalitarian power through what South Korean officials and North Korean defectors have called a “reign of terror.”

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I am an attorney in the Washington DC area, with a Doctor of Law in the US, attended the master program at the National School of Administration of Việt Nam, and graduated from Sài Gòn University Law School. I aso studied philosophy at the School of Letters in Sài Gòn. . I have worked as an anti-trust attorney for Federal Trade Commission and a litigator for a fortune-100 telecom company in Washington DC. I have taught law courses for legal professionals in Việt Nam and still counsel VN government agencies on legal matters. I have founded and managed businesses for me and my family, both law and non-law. I have published many articles on national newspapers and radio stations in Việt Nam. In 1989 I was one of the founding members of US-VN Trade Council, working to re-establish US-VN relationship. Since the early 90's, I have established and managed VNFORUM and VNBIZ forum on VN-related matters; these forums are the subject of a PhD thesis by Dr. Caroline Valverde at UC-Berkeley and her book Transnationalizing Viet Nam. I translate poetry and my translation of "A Request at Đồng Lộc Cemetery" is now engraved on a stone memorial at Đồng Lộc National Shrine in VN. I study and teach the Bible and Buddhism. In 2009 I founded and still manage dotchuoinon.com on positive thinking and two other blogs on Buddhism. In 2015 a group of friends and I founded website CVD - Conversations on Vietnam Development (cvdvn.net). I study the art of leadership with many friends who are religious, business and government leaders from many countries. I have written these books, published by Phu Nu Publishing House in Hanoi: "Positive Thinking to Change Your Life", in Vietnamese (TƯ DUY TÍCH CỰC Thay Đổi Cuộc Sống) (Oct. 2011) "10 Core Values for Success" (10 Giá trị cốt lõi của thành công) (Dec. 2013) "Live a Life Worth Living" (Sống Một Cuộc Đời Đáng Sống) (Oct. 2023) I practice Jiu Jitsu and Tai Chi for health, and play guitar as a hobby, usually accompanying my wife Trần Lê Túy Phượng, aka singer Linh Phượng.

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