North Korea's elites tired of Kim Jong-Un's 'erratic behaviour', says defector

The North Korea’s elites are tired of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un’s erratic behaviour, according to a prominent defector.

Kim succeeded his father, Kim Jong-Il, as the Supreme Leader of North Korea in 2011 and has ruled the nation with an iron fist. He has frequently made news across the world for punishing officials at whim, including ordering executions. Lately, reports surfaced saying that he ordered execution of 20-30 officials for failing to manage the floods in the country.

Such erratic behaviour for more than a decade has made North Korea’s elites “disillusioned” and “tired” of Kim, said Ri Il-gyu, a defector who lives in South Korea, according to The Daily Telegraph.

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Following the Korean War (1950-53), while the North Korea became a totalitarian communist state under the dictatorship of the Kim family, the South Korea became a vibrant democracy and an industrial powerhouse. Owing to the abysmal standards of living, poverty, and absence of any civil liberties in their country of birth, North Koreans often try to defect to South Korea. Over the years, several North Korean officials posted abroad have defected to South Korea.

Ri, 52, defected to South Korea in 2016. He was posted at the North Korean embassy in Cuba.

Speaking at the Global Korea Forum in South Korean capital Seoul, Ri said that the North Korean elites have “become disillusioned with the regime due to Kim Jong-un’s impulsive behaviour”, according to The Telegraph.

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Ri said that Kim’s tendency to punish even minor mistakes with dismissals or even execution has created an “atmosphere of anxiety and uncertainty”, as per the newspaper.

However, Ri added that North Koreans were hesitant to revolt because of the draconian surveillance system and the brutal repression of any dissent in the country.

Ri, who is an advocate of overthrowing Kim’s regime, said that South Korea should mount an information campaign against Kim’s regime to recruit officials to “build a force for change”, according to the newspaper.

Previously, Ri has described Kim as just like any other man in person.

“In person, Kim Jong-un is just an ordinary human. Up close, you can’t help but think his blood pressure must be extremely high; his face is always red, like he’s been drinking, even redder than on screen,” said Ri previously, according to the newspaper.