Alternative History
152mm M1974 Tŏkch’ŏn - North Korea Victory Day-2013 01

Anti-Government tanks role pass Pyongyang apartment complexes.


In the early morning of February 13, 2017, North Korean soldiers and armed vehicles were reportedly seen by foreign tourists and North Koreans who were permitted to speak to the press by the government. The soldiers quickly occupied local government buildings such as post offices, Pyongyang city committee center, and numerous more important government office buildings and monuments and effectively closed them down. Citizens were ordered and forced into buildings, and told to act normal. The rebellious soldiers gathered outside the Central Luxury Mansion, the place of residence of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-nam, and ordered him through a loud speaker to step down from Supreme Leader and surrender to the soldiers. The apparent coup was eventually put down by loyal government troops, and was followed by brutal punishments for all involved, including public executions.

It is reported that the coup was directed by Kim Jong-nam’s half-brother, Kim Jong-Un.

Background[]

The coup comes from the opposition to KJN’s (Kim Jong-nam) accession to power as the Supreme Leader in 2011 after Kim Jong-Il died. Many government officials, and KJN’s half-brother, Kim Jong-Un, opposed KJN’s ideas of adopting a Chinese style of reforms, and adopting forms of capitalism, even legalizing jeans. Kim Jong-Un and his allies hoped to overthrow or assassinate KJN and bring back the traditional conservative anti-west culture and government that North Korea traditionally had.

The Coup[]

According to eye witness accounts, in the early morning of November 17, 2017 A rather large amount of soldiers and military vehicles were seen around the capital, Pyongyang. Some foreign tourists assumed it to be a normal occurrence, and thought not much of it. The soldiers begun to quickly seize government buildings and institutions such as the post office, airport and administrative buildings. Tanks blocked off many streets and intersections, and bystanders were shoved inside buildings, and told to stand still and keep calm or there would be consequences. The Pyongyang Central Committee building was taken over, and from there the rebellious troops made their way to the Central Luxury Mansions, the place of residence of the Supreme Leader, and surrounded it. The soldiers ordered Kim Jong-nam step down from his position as Supreme Leader and Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea, and surrender. Kim Jong-nam, after hearing of this sudden betrayal by his own army, refused to respond to the demands, and instead waited out for loyalist soldiers to put down this mutiny. The coup planners weren’t too smart, and never disabled the mansion’s telephone communications, and thus the rest of the military still loyal to Kim Jong-nam was informed of the coup and took action. In the early afternoon, government forces entered Pyongyang and clashed with the opposing force, and after about two hours of skirmishing, the remaining soldiers surrendered as the government army had retaken most of the capital.

Aftermath[]

State Media reported on the incident the day after. State run media did not refer to the mutiny as a “coup” but as a “Joint CIA-NIS plot to undermine the divine right of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-nam to reign our glorious nation” and said most of those involved were “loyal to the puppet regime in the south” and “were South Korean agents disguised as People’s Army soldiers, and who raided a military base to get the weapons they needed”. The media report ended stating that everything is back to normal, and the spies shall be punished on the behalf of the people, and then gave a blessing to Kim Jong-nam.

The government later accused Kim Jong-un, son of previous leader Kim Jong-Il, and half brother of current leader Kim Jong-nam, of orchestrating the coup, with the evidence being Kim had always longed to be the next apparent leader of the DPRK, and was jealous of Kim Jong-nam and against his reforms. Kim Jong-un fled the country following the failure of the attempted coup, with his current location unknown.

International Reaction[]