A once top-level North Korean official, whose decades-long disappearance from the radar of overseas intelligence agencies underscored the ruthless power struggles within the Kim regime, has reportedly died.

The death of Kim Yong Ju, the younger brother of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, was reported by the Korean Central News Agency on Dec. 15, 2021.

After being considered the No. 2 official in North Korea, Kim Yong Ju was effectively placed in confinement for half a century after losing a battle for power against his nephew, Kim Jong Il.

A centenarian, Kim Yong Ju outlived his brother as well as former leader Kim Jong Il, but he live the second half of his life mainly in obscurity, often in a remote part of the country, according to sources.

SET FOUNDATION FOR DICTATORSHIP

Kim Yong Ju was born in 1920, eight years after his brother, Kim Il Sung, who had formerly been named Kim Song Ju, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which keeps information on important North Korean officials.

In 1940, when the Korean Peninsula was under Japanese colonial rule, Kim Yong Ju is believed to have been sent by Japan’s police authorities to Manchuria to advise Kim Il Sung to drop his anti-Japan activities and surrender to Tokyo, according to Kang In-duk, a former unification minister who also analyzed the situation in Pyongyang at the South Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA).

Kim Yong Ju was in Shanghai when World War II ended. He relocated to Seoul and then returned to Pyongyang in autumn 1945 apparently at the invitation of his elder brother.

After studying in Moscow as a student, Kim Yong Ju supported his older brother’s rule as an executive of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) during the mid-1950s.

Kim Yong Ju is known for introducing the notorious “chulsin-songbun” class system under which North Korean citizens are categorized into 51 groups in the three classes of “core,” “wavering” and “hostile.”

He also took the initiative in purging communists in North Korea sympathetic to the Soviet Union and China, establishing the foundation for dictatorship.

Kim Yong Ju became head of the Organization and Guidance Department in 1960, solidifying his position as the No. 2 official in Pyongyang. He also served as a teacher for Kim Jong Il, who joined the WPK in 1964, such as explaining the workings of the ruling party.

During the late 1960s, the teacher and student apparently became embroiled in the race for power.

Kim Jong Il’s presence continued to increase, and in the 1970s, Kim Il Sung started telling those around him that his son would take over the leadership role.

In July 1972, the South and North Korea Joint Communique was announced.

Kang, who was then the director of the KCIA’s bureau on North Korean affairs, was involved in the negotiations for the agreement.

He said that Kim Yong Ju was suited for the talks because he was regarded as the second highest official both nominally and in real terms.

The South Korean delegation visited the North in May 1972 and met with Kim Yong Ju. Kang recalled that Kim appeared to be a good-natured man and was kind to the delegates from Seoul.

And then Kim Yong Ju disappeared.

ACCOUNTS OF DEFECTORS

KCIA Director Lee Hu-rak went to North Korea to sign the joint statement with Kim Yong Ju in July that year, but Kim was not present.

Kim Il Sung explained, “Kim Yong Ju cannot see you now due to illness.”

The KCIA tried but failed to identify the movements of Kim Yong Ju. The agency could only conclude that he was likely no longer playing any part in politics.

The South Korean Unification Ministry found no details of Kim Yong Ju’s activities between February 1974, when he was appointed vice premier, and December 1993, when he was selected as a member of the Political Bureau.

However, accounts from North Korean defectors indicated in 1975 that Kim Yong Ju had been ostracized to a rural zone.

“The news was unbelievable for me because I had thought he (Kim Yong Ju) had come down with sickness or retired,” Kang In-duk recalled.

The KCIA had also received a report that Kim Il Sung had described “Kim Yong Ju as not suitable” as his successor.

Kang surmised that Kim Yong Ju was “regarded as a threat because he was controlling the party’s organization.”

Kang said he was informed by sources that Kim Yong Ju was confined in a special villa near the Chinese border. He was allowed to return to Pyongyang only after Kim Jong Il became confident that he had full control over the country.

For nearly 30 years until his death, Kim Yong Ju had never made public appearances.

Kang said he heard from Hwang Jang Yop, a former secretary of the WPK who fled to South Korea, that Kim Yong Ju attended the 60th birthday party of Kim Il Sung on April 15, 1972, and told his brother that Kim Jong Suk (the mother of Kim Jong Il) “would be really full of happiness if she was still alive.”

Given the remark, Kang speculated, “Kim Yong Ju may have loved Kim Jong Il and had no intention to take over from Kim Il Sung.”

FAMILY AFFAIRS

Relatives of Kim Il Sung, including Kim Yong Ju, are referred to as the Mount Paektu bloodline in North Korea.

Among them are current leader Kim Jong Un, son of Kim Jong Il and grandson of Kim Il Sung, as well as Kim Yo Jong, a deputy department director in the WPK and younger sister of Kim Jong Un.

Kim Pyong Il, Kim Jong Un’s uncle, once served as ambassador to the Czech Republic, while Kim Han Sol is the son of Kim Jong Nam, Kim Jong Un’s older brother, who was assassinated in 2017.

Kim Pyong Il spent 40 years abroad and returned to North Korea in late 2019. He has since shown no formal movements.

Kim Han Sol is said to be protected by Washington and living in secrecy in the United States or Europe.

“Power concentrates only on one person,” Kang said. “Kim Pyong Il can live out his natural life peacefully if he keeps silent and never raises his voice.”

Dec. 17, 2021, marked the 10th anniversary of the death of Kim Jong Il, but the fate of his relatives shows that the power struggle continues in the reclusive state.