When Thae Yong Ho, the former North Korean deputy ambassador to Britain, defected last summer, he was the most high profile person to do so in two decades. On Wednesday, he spoke with reporters for the first time about life in North Korea and why he feels Kim Jong Un won't be leader much longer.
Thae said he defected because he wanted to free his wife and two sons from the "slavery" of North Korea, and he is "sure that more defections of my colleagues will take place since North Korea is already on the slippery slope." International sanctions on the regime are working and North Koreans are becoming more aware of the outside world, he said, and analysts agree that news reports from South Korea are being smuggled in on flash drives and cellphones. Thae, who believes the only way to "resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula" is to "eliminate the Kim Jong Un regime," went on to predict there will be a "popular uprising" against Kim, and his "days are numbered."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Today's political cartoons - April 19, 2025Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - free trade, judicial pushback, and more
-
5 educational cartoons about the Harvard pushbackCartoons Artists take on academic freedom, institutional resistance, and more
-
One-pan black chickpeas with baharat and orange recipeThe Week Recommends This one-pan dish offers bold flavours, low effort and minimum clean up
-
Judge threatens Trump team with criminal contemptSpeed Read James Boasberg attempts to hold the White House accountable for disregarding court orders over El Salvador deportation flights
-
Biden slams Trump's Social Security cutsSpeed Read In his first major public address since leaving office, Biden criticized the Trump administration's 'damage' and 'destruction'
-
El Salvador refuses to return US deporteeSpeed Read President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador said he would not send back the unlawfully deported Kilmar Ábrego García
-
Trump says electronics tariff break won't lastSpeed Read The tariff exemptions on smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices are temporary, the administration says
-
Man charged in arson attack on Pennsylvania's ShapiroSpeed Read Governor Josh Shapiro and his family were sleeping when someone set fire to his Harrisburg mansion
-
White House pushes for oversight of Columbia UniversitySpeed Read The Trump administration is considering placing the school under a consent decree
-
Supreme Court backs wrongly deported migrantSpeed Read The Trump administration must 'facilitate' the return of wrongfully deported migrant Kilmar Ábrego García from El Salvador, Supreme Court says
-
Two judges bar war-powers deportationsSpeed Read The Trump administration was blocked from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport more alleged Venezuelan gang members
