North Korea announced Monday through state-run media that Jang Song Thaek, the uncle of leader Kim Jong Un, had been deprived of all titles and expelled from the ruling Workers' Party of Korea for "anti-party, anti-revolution factional activities."
The husband of Kim Kyong Hui, the younger sister of deceased leader Kim Jong Il, Jang had been regarded as the second most powerful person in North Korea and is the most prominent official to be purged since Kim Jong Un came to power following the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in December 2011.
The North Korean leadership's measures against Jang are so severe as to preclude the chance of his re-emerging on the country's political scene. It is safe to say that power will increasingly concentrate in the hands of Kim Jong Un, consolidating his position in North Korea's power structure. He also may appoint younger people to positions to serve as his aides.