A senior North Korean official has emerged as a threat to the stability of the Kim Jong Un regime by cementing his place at the top of a power structure made up of his followers, a new report from South Korea’s parliament claims.

The National Assembly Research Service (NARS) report released last week assessed that Choe Ryong Hae, the parliamentary chief who has been described as Kim’s “right-hand man,” has transformed his informal network into a formalized power base with the leader’s approval, leveraging a “single-patron system” in which he alone holds influence over officials to place several affiliates in senior positions in the military, ruling party and government.