Thae Yong Ho, formerly a senior diplomat, was not only the number two person in charge of the North Korean Embassy in London, he was a close confidant the Kim family. In fact, when Kim Jong Un’s older brother, Kim Jong Chul, visited England to attend an Eric Clapton concert, Thae Yong Ho served as his personal attendant.
By looking at Thae’s work history, it’s easy to see just how successful he was within the top government circles. Thae attended the Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies, a school that is normally reserved for students with extremely high songbun, a rigid class indicator based on family background and regime loyalty. His wife is a descendant of the powerful O family, part of the partisan guerrilla bloodline comprising much of North Korea’s core elite.
Minister Thae served as a Danish and Japanese interpreter for Kim Jong Il. Out of North Korea’s 1,400 person diplomat corps, only 30-40 rise to that high level. One of the earliest diplomats to leave North Korea was named Ko Young Hwan. In fact, before defecting in 1991, he served as Kim Il Sung’s French translator. Like Minister Thae, he was high up in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Why do the elite escape from North Korea?
Why would a high-status diplomat like Thae choose to leave? First of all, Thae is hardly alone in making this decision. According to South Korean government sources, within the last 2-3 years, over 40 elites have chosen the same course. The elite in North Korea receive many benefits from the regime and serve as its main support structure. The fact that the elite are lining up to flee is a sign that they are losing faith in the regime.
But, why would that be the case? Is it because the country has become isolated through nuclear and missile provocations? That definitely is the case. Isolation is a frustrating condition with which the elite are forced to reckon. But there is an even more fundamental problem: the regime is built to provide for the Kim family and the Kim family alone. It is unable to accommodate the vision or leadership of anyone else.
The regime is at the beck and call of the Kim family, and does not answer to or serve anyone else. Those who are educated from an early age to accept the ‘naturalness’ of this system might not know any better. But those with foreign experience, or who have access to foreign ideas, have a hard time swallowing the idea of North Korea’s domineering monarchy. As modernity slowly creeps into different aspects of North Korean life, the amount of people with doubts is on the rise.
The dominating reign of a 21st Century King doesn’t fit with the times
Kim Jong Un needs to think very carefully about his future policies. Is he going to continue the system put into place by his grandfather and advanced by his father? Or, is he going to make accommodations to fit into the modern world? It is not easy to predict if such adaptations can be safely or easily pursued, but we do know that the base of Kim Jong Un’s support structure is beginning to crumble. It’s hard to know if he will be able to maintain his grip on power if this continues. A dictatorship is a dictatorship; but the form that the dictatorship takes in North Korea is completely out of sync with the modern world.
The Kim family is idolized and deified. Right now, the Kims are regarded as perfect: there is nothing they can’t accomplish. Their word instantly becomes law. As a result, no criticism about the Kim family is allowed. In this context, it seems like any change will be very difficult for North Korea to pursue. As soon as communication with the outside world is permitted, the residents will come to understand that the deification of the Kims was a lie from the very start. At that point, Kim Jong Un’s power base would begin to waver.
Mao Zedong is revered in China, but he is not treated like a god. Because of that, China was able to maintain a socialist dictatorship and also permit communication with the outside world. This flexibility is what enabled China to change and adapt. The question of “Will North Korea be able to communicate with the outside world?” will be answered by the regime’s ability or inability to leave missiles and nuclear weapons behind in favor of embracing 21st century concepts.
The Kim family status must descend from deity level to human level
Of course, Kim Jong Un likely does not wish to cast off the benefits of being thought of as a god. Nobody enjoys tossing away advantages that they were brought up to believe were their birthrights. However, if he wants to secure and stabilize his reign, he’ll have to come down from the deity level and embrace a leadership style better suited to the times. If he does go that route, plenty of countries will likely lend a helping hand.
If Kim Jong Un wishes to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors by imitating their style, he might end up losing everything. At this point, even the elite have lost faith in the regime. He would be better off embracing a happy medium by coming down from his god status. That’s the first step.
*Viewpoints expressed in Guest Columns do not necessarily reflect those of Daily NK.
