North Korean authorities reportedly have arrested several hundred relatives of the recently deposed uncle of the nation’s supreme leader, Kim Jong-un. 
 
 The Daily NK newspaper reports that a source in the North Korean capitol city of Pyongyang said the arrests occurred on Dec. 13, a day after Jang Song-thaek was executed for a variety of crimes against the state. 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 "They took away a few hundred people," the source told the Daily NK. "At around 10 p.m. on the night of [December] 13, the day after Jang was executed, armed men from the Ministry of State Security arrived in the Pyongchon area of Pyongyang, where a lot of his relatives lived." 
 
 "It was not just his close relatives who were taken away, but distant members of his family too, like relatives of his father.” 
 
 Song-thaek was a leading official in North Korea before his death, and married to the only sister of Kim Jong-il, the nation’s former supreme leader and the father of Kim Jong-un. 
 
 The Telegraph reports Song-thaek was charged with 24 crimes, from "gnawing at the unity and cohesion of the party" to "dreaming different dreams." 
 
 He was also reportedly charged with "creating illusion about himself," to "committing irregularities and corruption that led to a dissolute and depraved life," having "improper relations with several women" and "squandering foreign currency at casinos.” 
 
 The Daily NK is run by defectors from the totalitarian regime and focuses on North Korean news and affairs. ||||| Several hundred relatives of Jang Song-thaek, executed recently on charges of plotting to overthrow the North Korean state, have been rounded up and sent to political prison camps. 
 
 It is common in North Korea for family members of anyone found guilty of a crime to be punished, but the scale of these arrests underline the lengths to which Kim Jong-un is going to eradicate his uncle and former mentor from the nation's history. 
 
 "At around 10pm on the night of [December] 13, the day after Jang was executed, armed men from the Ministry of State Security arrived in the Pyongchon area of Pyongyang, where a lot of his relatives lived," a source in the North Korean capital told the Daily NK newspaper. 
 
 "They took away a few hundred people," the source told the newspaper, which is run by defectors from the regime. 
 
 "It was not just his close relatives who were taken away, but distant members of his family too, like relatives of his father. 
 
 "In these circumstances, even his relatives outside Pyongyang are not safe," he added. 
 
 Mr Jang was charged with no fewer than 24 abuses of power or contraventions of North Korean law with the ultimate aim of overthrowing the leadership. 
 
 These ranged from "gnawing at the unity and cohesion of the party" to "dreaming different dreams" and "creating illusion about himself." 
 
 Also accused of "committing irregularities and corruption that led to a dissolute and depraved life," having "improper relations with several women" and "squandering foreign currency at casinos, Mr Jang was summarily executed. 
 
 As soon as he was arrested, however, relatives and anyone with links to a man who had previously been seen as untouchable realised that the state's retribution would not end with him. Execution is the likely punishment for his closest relatives or political allies, while others will be dispatched to labour colonies for the rest of their lives. 
 
 Some of those at risk volunteered to submit themselves to "revolutionisation" by going to labour in mines or on farms. 
 
 "It seems like they are trying to take self-imposed punishment in order to evade a more stringent one, but they will find it difficult to escape that way," the Daily NK said. "Jang's crimes are 'anti-party, counter-revolutionary factionalism,' so of course they will have to say that his family challenged the system. 
 
 "For this reason, severe punishment awaits." ||||| This picture taken by North Korean's official Korean Central News Agency on Dec. 8 and released Dec. 9 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, attending the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang. (KNS/AFP/Getty Images) 
 
 North Korea on Monday confirmed its purge of Jang Song Thaek, the uncle of supreme leader Kim Jong Un, saying that he abused drugs, disobeyed orders and worked in secret to build up his base of power. 
 
 The North said Jang was relieved of all posts and expelled from the Workers’ Party after a meeting Sunday of top officials in Pyongyang. On Monday afternoon, North Korea’s state-run television showed footage of Jang being led out of the meeting by olive-suited state security members, as hundreds of other party members looked on. 
 
 Although the North has previously banished high-level leaders, never has it described their alleged transgressions in such detail, some analysts said. The statement about Jang, released by the state-run news agency, ran nearly 1,400 words and said dissent would not be tolerated under its “monolithic leadership system,” with Kim as the “unitary center.” 
 
 The statement came six days after South Korea’s spy agency briefed select lawmakers in Seoul on Jang’s likely removal. 
 
 Jang, 67, had been installed as a caretaker for the third-generation power handoff by Kim Jong Il, who died two years ago. Until recently, Jang was one of Kim Jong Un’s closest lieutenants, accompanying him at public events nationwide and last year representing him at a meeting in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping. 
 
 1 of 50 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Inside North Korea View Photos A rare visual tour inside the reclusive and secretive country. Caption A visual tour of the reclusive and secretive country. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches a performance given by the State Merited Chorus. Korean Central News Agency via Reuters Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
 
 Jang’s removal marks the most significant shake-up under Kim Jong Un, and some experts see the unusually vivid account as a public warning against disloyalty. 
 
 “This means Kim Jong Un punishes his political rivals more severely than Kim Jong Il,” said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior North Korea analyst at Seoul’s Sejong Institute. 
 
 According to the North’s statement, Jang’s crimes ran the gamut. He disobeyed the orders of Kim Jong Un and obstructed the work of previous leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. He tried to build up his power base — one with ideals different from those of the state — and was “double-dealing behind the scene.” In his personal life, Jang was “dissolute and depraved,” as well as corrupt. 
 
 “By abusing his power, he was engrossed in irregularities and corruption, had improper relations with several women, and was wined and dined at back parlors of deluxe restaurants,” the North said. “Ideologically sick and extremely idle and easygoing, he used drugs and squandered foreign currency at casinos while he was receiving medical treatment in a foreign country under the care of the party.” 
 
 North Korea’s announcement did not say whether Jang had been punished beyond his expulsion from the party. It also did not mention his wife, Kim Kyong Hui, who is Kim Jong Un’s aunt and holds power of her own. Some analysts, including Ken E. Gause, an expert on North Korean leadership at CNA Strategic Studies in Alexandria, Va., say Jang and Kim Kyong Hui have been estranged since the 1990s. 
 
 Last week, South Korea’s unification minister, Ryoo Kihl-jae, told lawmakers he did not think Jang has been physically harmed. 
 
 In his two years in power, Kim has restocked the middle levels of the Workers’ Party and military with younger members who have vowed their loyalty. But removing Jang is riskier, some analysts say, because he is skilled at building agreement and keeping Kim insulated from contentious decisions. 
 
 “Maybe in the near term this maybe enhances Kim Jong Un’s image or the power around him,” Gause said. “But this still, ultimately, can go really wrong. You’ve removed from the center of things a person who knew how the system worked and who was apparently a good consensus-builder.” 
 
 Some analysts say Jang was deeply involved in programs that earned foreign currency for the government. He also helped oversee a special economic zone in the port city of Rason aimed at attracting investment from China and Russia. 
 
 In addition to removing Jang, North Korea also purged his followers, the statement said, though it offered no additional details. South Korean media reports in recent days said that Jang’s relatives, including the ambassadors to Malaysia and Cuba, were recalled to Pyongyang and removed from their posts. Seoul’s spy agency said that two Jang aides were executed last month. 
 
 “Jang and his followers did not sincerely accept the line and policies of the party,” the North said. 
 
 Yoonjung Seo contributed to this report. ||||| 1 of 3. A paramilitary police official stands guard next to a fence, which blocks a road towards the South Korea embassy, in Beijing December 6, 2013. 
 
 SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea could be facing its most serious defection in 15 years as South Korean media said on Friday that a man who managed funds for the ousted uncle of leader Kim Jong Un had fled the isolated country and sought asylum in South Korea. 
 
 The aide, who was not named, was being protected by South Korean officials in a secret location in China, cable news network YTN and Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper said, citing sources familiar with the matter. 
 
 South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) had no knowledge of the defection, lawmakers said in Seoul after they were briefed by the head of the spy agency. 
 
 YTN said the man managed funds for Jang Song Thaek, whose marriage to Kim's aunt and proximity to the young leader made him one of the most powerful men in North Korea. 
 
 Jang was relieved of his posts last month, according to the NIS, and the television network said the sacking could have followed the aide's defection. 
 
 YTN said the aide also had knowledge of funds belonging to Kim and his father, former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. If true, the defection would likely be the first time in 15 years a significant insider from the Pyongyang regime has switched sides. 
 
 Impoverished but nuclear-capable North Korea and the rich, democratic South are still technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. 
 
 A spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry, Kim Eui-do, and officials at the Foreign Ministry said the defection report could not be confirmed. 
 
 Jung Chung-rae, a member of the South Korean parliament's Intelligence Committee, told reporters the intelligence service had said it did not know about the defection, but that two of Jang's relatives who were serving in embassies overseas had been recalled. 
 
 "It is true that Jang's brother-in-law and nephew have been called back to North Korea," Jung cited the NIS as saying. 
 
 Jang himself is alive and appears to be safe, South Korean officials have said. 
 
 Jang has survived previous purges and official displeasure, thanks largely to his sometimes tempestuous marriage to Kim Kyong Hui, the daughter of North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung. 
 
 "WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION," CHINA SAYS 
 
 North Korea's ruling Kim family is deeply venerated and feared. It is ruthless about protecting its security and privacy and little is known about the inner workings of the regime. 
 
 The aide requested asylum about two months ago and was currently in China, YTN said. In Beijing, there were no signs of any additional security around the South Korean embassy. 
 
 Asked about the South Korean media reports, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said: "We have noted the reports, but do not understand the situation." 
 
 South Korea's intelligence service has also said two of Jang's close associates were executed last month for corruption. 
 
 These reports have not been confirmed either. 
 
 YTN said Jang's aide fled to China some time in late September or early October and that Jang could have been sacked because of this. 
 
 "A source familiar with the matter said the aide immediately requested asylum from the South Korean government and South Korean officials are currently protecting him at a secret place in China," it said. 
 
 China, Pyongyang's only major ally, usually resists allowing defectors from North Korea to seek asylum elsewhere. 
 
 YTN said the aide tried to escape to Laos, a route favored by other defectors, but Chinese authorities prevented him from leaving. 
 
 U.S. officials have also sought custody of the aide, the television station said. 
 
 About 25,000 North Koreans have defected to the South but few of them were highly placed in Pyongyang. 
 
 The major defectors include Hwang Jang Yop, a high-level Worker's Party ideologue who was the architect of the Juche (self-reliance) ideology of North Korea, who sought asylum in the South in 1997. 
 
 Kim Jong Un's aunt, his mother's sister, fled to the United States in 1998, media reports have said. 
 
 In 2002, a North Korean nuclear scientist named Kyong Won Ha escaped the country, although few details are known. 
 
 (Reporting by Ju-min Park and Jack Kim; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Nick Macfie)
– Authorities have rounded up hundreds of relatives of Kim Jong Un's recently executed uncle and ferried them to prison camps, according to a report out of Seoul. The night after Jang Song Thaek was executed, "armed men from the Ministry of State Security arrived unannounced in the Pyongchon area of Pyongyang where a lot of his relatives lived," an insider tells the Daily NK, which is run by defectors, Fox News notes. "It was not just his close relatives who were taken away, but distant members of his family, too." Observers say family members could be executed or spend life in prison (though things appear OK for Kim's aunt). In other news from Pyongyang: The Telegraph lists some of the 24 charges against Jang, which apparently included "gnawing at the unity and cohesion of the party" and "dreaming different dreams." He was also blamed for "improper relations with several women" and "squandering foreign currency at casinos." But Pyongyang's claims that Jang was executed over his plans to seize power are likely inaccurate, says South Korea's head of intelligence: The real problem was Jang and his associates' push to take control of major business deals—for instance, coal sales to China, the official said in a closed meeting, as noted by the New York Times. After Jang's rivals complained, Kim ordered Jang's associates to drop certain deals, but they refused; Kim believed his authority was being questioned. In less consequential North Korea news, Dennis Rodman has exited the country, having wrapped up his third "fun" visit. He didn't get to see his pal Kim this time around (he was training basketball players), but tells CNN, "I'm not worried about it. I'll see him again. I will be coming back in another week."