No major threat to Kim's rule despite internal complaints: experts

SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korean officials are increasingly disenchanted with Kim Jong-un's iron-fisted rule, but such a sentiment seems not to be serious yet enough to pose a threat to his leadership at least in the short term, analysts said. The North's young leader ordered the execution of his once-powerful uncle Jang Song-thaek for treason two years ago. The execution of the high-profile figure was conducted in a brutal way just four days after he was removed from all of his posts. The case was a key example of Kim's reign of terror, in which he has sought to consolidate his power since taking office in 2011 following the sudden death of his father Kim Jong-il. Experts said that a series of purges and executions have paved the way for Kim to take a firm grip on power although party and military officials' complaints are on the rise. "The North's leader Kim has sought to cut down any sprouts that could pose a threat to his regime as fast as possible," said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University. Since assuming power, the North's leader has executed around 100 party and military officials, according to the Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS), a think tank under South Korea's state spy agency. In May, North Korea executed Hyon Yong-chol, former defense chief, with an anti-aircraft gun over his alleged disloyalty to Kim. Last month, Choe Ryong-hae, a senior secretary of the ruling party and a key aide to Kim, was sent to a rural farm as punishment for his mishandling of a newly built hydroelectric power plant project. The INSS said that a growing number of North Korean power elites are disenchanted with the leader's brutal governing style. "Deep doubts about Kim's leadership are spreading among working-level officials. Some officials based in foreign nations are trying to seek asylum," it said. But experts said that there is a slim possibility that such jitters will evolve seriously enough to threaten the North's regime in the short term. "Some power elites could feel irritated due to fears of being purged or executed," said Chang Yong-seok, a researcher at the Seoul National University Institute for Peace and Unification Studies. "But Kim is also cementing his key power base by tapping authorities, such as the party's organization and guidance department." On the diplomatic front, burgeoning signs of thaws in frayed relations between North Korea and China have emerged since a key Chinese party official visited the North in October for a military parade. Pyongyang-Beijing relations have been long stagnant as China was upset with North Korea's nuclear test in early 2013 and the North's execution of Jang, who had close ties with Chinese officials. In what could be a show of China's resentment, Chinese President Xi Jinping had a summit with his South Korean counterpart, Park Geun-hye, in July last year, breaking past practices of having talks with the North's leader first before the South's president. But their icy ties have shown signs of improvement since China sent Liu Yunshan, who ranks fifth in China's ruling Communist Party hierarchy, to the North's event to mark the party anniversary on Oct. 10. "There is a possibility that China may give a 'big present' to North Korea ahead of the North's planned party congress next year or the North's leader may visit China," said Yoo Ho-yeol, a professor of North Korean studies at Korea University. North Korea's ruling Workers' Party plans to convene the congress for the first time in more than three decades in early May. Ahead of the major party event, Kim may take a conciliatory gesture toward China in a bid to produce some achievements in both internal and diplomatic affairs, some experts said. But other analysts said that how smoothly their relations will go hinges on whether North Korea is willing to give up its nuclear weapons. China has warned against North Korea's nuclear tests and missile launches, reiterating its principled approach against the North's nuclear arsenal. "Liu's visit to North Korea will help resume exchanges of high-level officials between the two nations, but it remains to be seen whether Kim will visit China (in the coming months)," a diplomatic source in Beijing said. sooyeon@yna.co.kr (END)