North Korea confirms leader Kim Jong Un’s uncle was dismissed

The secretive North Korean regime confirmed Sunday that the uncle of ruler Kim Jong Un had been dismissed from his government post.

{mosads}Uncle Jang Song Thaek was dismissed for unspecified “criminal acts,” North Korean media was quoted as saying by Reuters.

“Jang and his followers committed criminal acts baffling imagination and they did tremendous harm to our party and revolution,” the North’s KCNA news agency reportedly said.

Kim is seen as moving to consolidate power in the Hermit Kingdom and eliminate rivals. In recent days his uncle’s image was removed from a party film and other references to him had been erased, prompting speculation he had been purged.