North Korea’s decision to remove Jang Song Thaek from power was made not only by Kim Jong Un, but also Kim Kyong Hui and Kim Jong Chul, North Korea Strategic Information Service Center (NKSIS) reported on December 12.

NKSIS Director Lee Yun-geol said via its website that an unnamed source in North Korea told the organization that Kim Jong Un and Kim Kyong Hui – Kim Jong Un’s aunt and Jang Song Thaek’s wife – had made the final decision to purge Jang.

The source added that Kim Jong Un’s older brother Kim Jong Chul played an important role in conducting the ground work for Jang’s removal.

Lee said that Jang was removed as a part of Kim’s family’s plan to strengthen power, stressing that Kimg Jong Chul led the work of North Korea’s State Security Agency throughout the purge of Jangs aides.

Lee Yun-geol is a former North Korean soldier who fled to South Korea in 2005 while working as a science researcher at the same General Guard Bureau’s special unit in charge of Kim family’s health.

NKSIS was established in 2012 by an elite class of North Korean defectors with histories in the upper echelons of government, administration, and education.

NKSIS members have been educated in both Koreas and today they work in various professional fields, including medicine, education and religion.