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.@Robert_E_Kelly asks Amb. Thae what life was like as a diplomat for the DPRK. Thae says he’s often asked why he defected since he had a good life. Thae says he defected for freedom. #OsloFF
Amb. Thae says he lived a double life as a diplomat. He had to defend the NK system to outsiders, but his family would debate at dinner. When they went back to Pyongyang, he had to make sure his sons didn’t talk about what life was like outside. #OsloFF
Amb Thae said his son couldn’t tell his friends about what life was like in London, he couldn’t say anything about the internet or YouTube, etc. #osloff
Amb Thae told his son to read Oliver Twist, one of the books allowed in NK, and his son made up stories based on Oliver Twist to tell his friends what life was like in London. #olsoff2019
Amb Thae says that he felt it was his duty as a father to leave NK and to break the cycle of slavery for his family. @Robert_E_Kelly asks whether there are changes under Kim Jong-un
Amb Thae says that more information is smuggled into NK now, so that people secretly watch western movies and South Korean TV shows at night. But Kim has increased the terror under his regime so people are terrified to speak out. #OsloFF
Amb Thae talks about how the Kims copied their system of the 10 Principles, about how they are gods from the 10 Commandments. Says that having outside information get into NK is the most important b/c that can give the people context and comparison to know the Kims aren’t gods.
Amb Thae says by getting outside info in, it can change the thoughts of individuals in the DPRK. Those thoughts can trigger larger changes. He says the difference between communist states vs capitalist states is that things are more unpredictable in communist regimes. #OsloFF
Thae says that as a result, even the DPRK regime does not really understand how frustrated the people are. #osloff
.@Robert_E_Kelly asks if the elites in NK know how bad the human rights are in NK. Amb Thae says that everyone in NK knows about the camps. His diplomat colleagues have been disappeared into camps, etc. #OsloFF
.@Robert_E_Kelly asks if international pressure on NK human rights actually helps. Amb Thae says that the UN system is important but that we also must use NGOs and their connections to raise pressure on other countries to pressure the NK regime. #OsloFF
Amb Thae says that the Kim Jong Un regime can’t go on another 20 years. The young generation isn’t interested in the ideology and is influenced by outside info. NK workers who travel to other countries carry that info back with them. It may soon reach the majority of the people.
