South Korean intelligence discovers why Kim Jong Un had his uncle executed

Execution of Kim Jong-Un's uncle linked to his desire to control lucrative coal exports, S Korean spy chief says: http://t.co/7U0n3BIamB

— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) December 23, 2013

In North Korea, it’s wise to follow orders, even if you’re closely related to the most powerful man in the Hermit Kingdom. When Kim Jong Un ordered the execution of his own uncle in early December, experts on the region wondered if it was a sign of instability at the top of North Korea’s government.

Agence France-Presse reports that South Korea’s spy agency has discovered that Jang Song Thaek was executed because he disobeyed an order from Kim Jong Un to step away from the nation’s lucrative coal export business.

Despite its crushing poverty, North Korea it sitting on top of valuable mineral reserves that it regularly trades with China.

Last week, Judy Woodruff spoke with former CIA analyst Robert Carlin and Tufts University professor of Korean studies, Sung-Yoon Lee about the state of stability in Korea after Jang’s execution.

Update – 12:30 p.m. ET

The New York Times has more on the story. South Korean intelligence chief Nam Jae-joon reported to his own government that in his agency’s estimation, the execution didn’t reveal any sort of shakeup in North Korea’s power structure. “It appears that there is no big problem with Kim Jong-un’s grip on power,” Nam said, “because the purge of Jang Song-thaek was not the result of a power struggle.”