North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has allegedly dispatched assassins abroad to eliminate defectors, reports the Asahi Shimbun.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye suggested Monday that unrest in Pyongyang and North Korean provocations are increasingly likely with the appearance of “serious cracks” in the reclusive authoritarian regime.
“As the North Korean regime has been repressing its people with its continued reign of terror while ignoring the livelihoods of its citizens, even the loyalty of North Korea’s elites has begun to crumble,” Park said at a National Security Council meeting. She added, “As signs of serious cracks emerge, the likelihood of unrest in the regime is increasing.”
The reports of assassins come after the defection of Thae Yong-ho, a high-level North Korean official who worked in the North Korean embassy in London. His defection infuriated the North Korean government, which labeled him “human scum” and accused him of being a criminal and a traitor.
Before Thae’s defection, 13 North Korean restaurant workers defected from a state-run restaurant in Ningbo, China to South Korea, stirring a fuss within the dictatorship.
In an effort to prevent future defections and the crippling of the regime, Kim Jong Un reportedly issued an order Monday for the assassination of North Korean defectors.
South Korean officials are also concerned that North Korea will move to assassinate and kidnap South Korean people in acts of revenge.
The Asahi Shimbun explained that this would not be the first time that North Korea has sent hit teams to kill off people trying to escape.
In 1997, hit men killed a nephew of one of the wives of the late Kim Jong Il. In 2010, a group of North Koreans pretending to be South Koreans were arrested in South Korea for an assassination attempt on Hwang Jang Yop, who held a senior position in the North Korean government before defecting to South Korea.
North Korea’s assassins are said to be under the authority of the State Security Department and the Reconnaissance General Bureau.
South Korea is reportedly taking precautions since reports surfaced.
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