‘Kim Jong Un is enraged by military corruptions,’ Thae says

Former North Korea's deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom Thae Yong-ho revealed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has expressed ever-increasing fury over military leaders, citing that Kim was joined by high-ranking officials of the central committee such as President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea Kim Young Nam and North Korean Premier Pak Pong Ju on his Dec. 17 visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun Kim, in commemoration of the 7th anniversary of the death of his father Kim Jong Il. It is reported that military leaders did not accompany Kim.

The former North Korean diplomat wrote on his blog that North Korean media outlets have not recently covered military-related news such as events aimed at boosting loyalty, which always makes the headlines every year. He analyzed that Kim may have been enraged by a bunch of irregularities caught by censorship sessions on military leadership carried out by a body in charge of escorting and guarding Kim. The Rodong Sinmun covered an editorial dated on Wednesday, declaring war on corruption among the military leaders. Thae opinioned that the editorial seems to be related to widespread corruptions recently caught by the regime.

Added to this, Thae said that Pyongyang is trying to create an atmosphere across the media to blame Seoul for the unlikeliness of Kim’s visit to Korea within this year. “However, North Korea has not mentioned any issues regarding inter-Korean cooperation efforts such as a joint research exercise of the railway system and the South’s decision to provide humanitarian assistance. Thus, attention is being paid to what Kim will deliver at his new year speech on January 1, 2019


Na-Ri Shin journari@donga.com