North Korean Defector: The Regime Is Crumbling

Thae Yong Ho, second from left, at a news conference in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday. He was North Korea’s No. 2 diplomat in London until he fled to the South last summer with his family. Credit Pool photo by Ed Jones

New York Times: North Korean Defector Says Kim Jong-Un’s Control Is Crumbling

SEOUL, South Korea — The highest-ranking defector from North Korea in years said on Wednesday that the days of the country’s leadership were “numbered,” and that its attempts to control outside information were not working because of corruption and discontent.

“I am sure that more defections of my colleagues will take place, since North Korea is already on a slippery slope,” the defector, Thae Yong-ho, said during a news conference in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. “The traditional structures of the North Korean system are crumbling.”

Mr. Thae had been the North’s No. 2 diplomat in London until he fled to the South last summer with his family. South Korea has hailed his defection as a sign of growing disillusionment among North Korean elites with the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un. Since December, Mr. Thae has given a series of interviews to share his dire view of today’s North Korea.

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WNU Editor: Predictions that the North Korea regime is on the verge of collapse have been around for years. And while the message from this former North Korean diplomat does resonate for those who hope for change, we must not forget that diplomats from regimes of this type do live sheltered lives, and because they spend years abroad they are sometimes out of touch on what life is really like in the countryside. But I do think that because of technology .... the spread and dissemination of videos on what life is like in South Korea, China, Japan, etc. .... will in the long run have an impact in North Korea. What that impact will be is something that I do not know .... revolution .... or an evolution to a system like China's where the state is ruled by a single political party .... who knows, only time will tell what that change will be.