How do elite purges affect the composition of ruling coalitions in dictatorships? Two arguments have been advanced for the individual-level effects of purges on elite networks in dictatorships. First, purges may cause acquaintances to also suffer as dictators remove entire sub-networks within ruling coalitions. Second, purges may provide opportunities for other elites to improve their position. We examine these arguments on the case of North Korea. Recent scholarship has shown that politics in North Korea more closely resembles other dictatorships than previously thought. We build on this work, using social network analysis to explore the micro effects of elite purges in dictatorships by analyzing an original dataset of thousands of leadership events in North Korea between 1994 and 2020. The project has implications for theory on authoritarian survival, as well as for policymakers who must closely follow events in dictatorships to inform foreign policy.