North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was found to have issued pardons for some seven-thousand people affiliated with his uncle, Jang Song-thaek, who was executed last December. 
 
A North Korea source said some seven-thousand people, including Jang's relatives, were jailed and investigated by the Department of State Security since last December.
 
The source said Kim granted amnesty to most of the seven-thousand people in return for their pledge of loyalty to the country.
 
After Jang was executed, some of his close aides still retained their posts, including the North’s Ambassador to China Ji Jae-ryong.  
 
Kim is said to have kept them in place as an act of generosity and as a way to gain their loyalty and strengthen his support base.
 
A number of sources say dozens of people were purged and some 300 were sent to concentration camps because of their relations with Jang, who was once the second most powerful man in North Korea.