Jang Song Thaek’s path could best be described as full of ups and downs. A handsome, ambitious character, Jang nonetheless did not come from privileged family in the North yet, against the odds, was let into the household of the ruling Kim family as a son-in-law. Yet even his romance with national founder Kim Il Sung’s daughter, Kim Kyong Hui, has a shadow cast over it considering his life’s tragic end.

Ra Jongyil, former deputy head of the South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS)’s North Korea department, has published a book on Jang entitled The Path of Jang Song Thaek: