Tag: Kim Jong-un

Yes this would have been an unconventional way to begin an introduction:

Former Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo wrote in his new memoir that his secret meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jung Un in 2018 began with a “joke about assassination.”

“This small, sweating, evil man tried to break the ice with all the charm you would expect from a mass murderer. ‘Mr. Director,’ he opened, ‘I didn’t think you’d show up. I know you’ve been trying to kill me,’” Pompeo’s memoir, which Fox News obtained a copy of, reads.  

“My team and I had prepared for this moment, but ‘a joke about assassination’ was not on the list of ‘things he may say when he greets you.’ But I was, after all, director of the CIA, so maybe his bon mot made sense,” he added. 

Pompeo’s memoir, “Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love,” is set to be released on Jan. 24 amid speculation that the former Trump Cabinet secretary could announce a 2024 presidential run. Pompeo said last month that he will announce his 2024 plans this spring.

In the first chapter, obtained by Fox News, Pompeo writes his meeting with Kim was a “complete secret” and his goal was to “correct the failed efforts of the past that had not eliminated North Korea’s nuclear weapons of mass destruction.” After the North Korean leader opened with an assassination joke, Pompeo said he responded in kind.

“I decided to lean in with a little humor of my own: ‘Mr. Chairman, I’m still trying kill you.’ In the picture taken seconds after that exchange, Kim is still smiling. He seemed confident that I was kidding,” Pompeo said in the memoir.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The smart people keep saying Kim Jong-un is showing his daughter off to emphasize hereditary power transition:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s disclosure of his daughter in recent public events was likely an attempt to show his people that one of his children would one day inherit his power in what would be the country’s third hereditary power transfer, South Korea’s spy service told lawmakers Thursday.

Kim publicly took his daughter to three events in the past few months: a missile launch site, a photo session with weapons scientists and a touring of a missile facility. State media called her Kim’s “most beloved child,” sparking outside debate over whether she’s being groomed as his heir apparent, though she’s believed to be around 9 or 10 years old.

In a closed-door Parliamentary committee meeting, the National Intelligence Service said it assessed that by taking his daughter to public places, Kim aims to show North Koreans his resolve to hold another round of hereditary power transition, Yoo Sang-bum, one of the lawmakers who attended the private NIS briefing, told reporters.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but I think he is showing off his daughter to make him look like a nice family man to rehab his image before any future potential talks.

Little Kim was recently out with her father Big Kim again:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made a second public appearance with his daughter during a photo session with officials involved in this month’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch, state media said Sunday.

Photos published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) showed the daughter, presumed to be Kim’s second child, Ju-ae, dressed in a long black winter coat with a fur collar and with her hair partially tied back, as she walked hand in hand or linking arms with her father.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but some of the speculation I have read is that Kim Jong-un is show casing his daughter now to set her up for succession. She is believed to be 10 years old so I find it hard to believe she is being set up for succession at that age.

I think it is more likely that Kim is using his daughter to soften his image in preparation for any future negotiations. His sister has long been playing the bad cop with bombastic language and threats while Kim Jong-un is the good cop where he speaks more measured and is mostly smiling in photo ops.

Kim Jong-un is not happy that the South Korean military under President Yoon Suk-yeol is taking measures to improve defense readiness:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un warned that South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol government and its “military gangsters” will face annihilation should it make any “dangerous attempt” like a preemptive strike, according to Pyongyang’s state media Thursday.

Kim issued the strongly worded, direct warning against the South’s conservative administration, coupled with biting criticism of the United States, in his speech the previous day marking the 69th anniversary of the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War. Pyongyang calls the anniversary “Victory Day” and commemorates it in a celebratory mood.

Kim mentioned South Korea’s president by name three times in the address and branded its military as gangsters, citing its stated strategy to counter the North’s nuclear and missile threats through the reinforcement of the so-called three-pillar system, including the Kill Chain preemptive strike capabilities.

“Such a dangerous attempt would be punished immediately by powerful forces, and the Yoon Seok-yeol administration and his military would be wiped out,” he said, appearing in public for the first time in 19 days along with his wife Ri Sol-ju for the Pyongyang ceremony.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but it is ironic that Kim is calling Yoon a gangster when the North Korean regime has long been called the Sopranos State.