Thread by @SungYoonLee1

Former #DPRK Deputy Amb to the #UK @Thaeyongho on North Korea's nuclear deceive-and-stall strategy, from his 2018 memoir (in Korean). My own translation.

"The Sept 19, 2005 Six-Party Talks joint statement is the product of the Kim Jong Il’s deceive-and-stall strategy." 1/

“There are still folks in SK who blame the US for the breakdown of the Sept 19 Joint Statement. They argue that since the U.S. did not abide by the agreement and put pressure on NK, NK had no other option than to develop nukes. But, to this date, NK has not once stopped" 2/

"its nuclear weapons development. NK’s nukes are not something that can ever be stopped by statements or agreements.” (186)

DPRK embassy in London opened in April 2003. Ri Yong Ho was the first amb. FM Kang Suk Ju to Ri as Ri departed for the UK: “Do your best to use the UK 3/

"to buy 2-3 years of time. If you can, there will be a major event, after which we will summon you back home.” (227)
KJI appropriated $3M, which was not enough to purchase a building in London. NK officials & family abroad all live together in the same office/housing compound 4/

"in order to keep an eye on each other." (189) DPRK embassies followed in Brazil, Mexico, Peru, DRC, and Angola etc.

Thae was appointed to London in June 2004. DPRK embassy knew head of time of NK’s July 4, 2006 7-rocket salute & first nuclear test on Oct 9. Embassy held a 5/

"meeting to assess how the US may respond. In view of domestic politics in the UK, widespread post-Iraq War public opinion in the US, and the failure to find any WMDs in Iraq, we assessed the odds of a US attack on NK to be close to zero. We reported this to Pyongyang." (238) 6/

China, not the US, was the most irate party in the wake of NK’s first nuclear test. (239). FM Kang SJ and PRC FM Li Zhaoxing were once roommates at Beijing Univ. The two met at Shenyang on Oct 12. According to transcripts of the meeting, Li said to Kang: 7/

“The Chinese people have great respect for Great Leader Comrade Kim Il Sung. Comrade Kim Il Sung left a great strategic legacy in the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. However, today, our Korean comrades are in violation of his ideology and legacy. Comrade Kim Il Sung 8/

"presented the idea of the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula as he predicted that if a small country like North Korea became embroiled in nuclear competition, it could not endure the heavy economic burden and collapse. Even a big country like the Soviet Union collapsed" 9/

"after becoming embroiled in excessive military spending competition with the US. Now, NK has climbed over a taboo mountain with its nuclear test. Form now on I hope that NK stops nuclear weapons development and concentrates all its energies on economic development." 10/

Li to Kang con'd: "If NK stops nuclear development China will increase its economic and military assistance to NK. North Korea cannot sustain its system with nuclear weapons. The revival of the economy is imperative.”

#DPRK FM Kang's reply is a classic. 11/

“I’m now confused if I am speaking with the PRC Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing or Qing Dynasty statesman Li Hongzhang. You mentioned the case of the collapse of the Soviet Union, but I am astonished that the foreign minister of China doesn’t even know the cause of the Soviet" 12/

"collapse. The reason for the collapse is not its military spending contest with the US. It collapsed due to the laziness on the part of the party in ideological education of the people and the party’s corruption and degeneration. Had the Soviets, as we do, strengthened" 13/

"their party and prioritized ideological education, the Soviet Union would not have collapsed even it had spent more on defense.

You mentioned Supreme Leader Kim Il Sung’s superb and great concept of the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula." 14/

"The denuclearization of the Korean peninsula does not mean our denuclearization only but that of the entire peninsula including South Korea. The US continues nuclear war exercises in the Korean peninsula and can introduce nukes at any time. Under these circumstances," 15/

"the Korean peninsula will never become nuclear-free. The only way for it to become possible is to repel US nukes with our own nukes and extract from the US a non-nuclear use guarantee. I call on you to mediate DPRK-US relations so that" /16

"the Supreme Leader’s idea of the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula may be realized.”

Me: To this day, NK mentions "Kim Il Sung's legacy of the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," & naifs the world over grow starry-eyed in their blithe ignorance of its meaning. 17/

Now, #KimJongUn’s 2018 post-nuclear provocation peace ploy

"At the 7th Party Congress in May 2016 Kim Jong Un proclaimed that nuclear weapons missiles provide “dignity and national power of Juche Korea at the highest level.” 18/

"At the NK foreign ministry the newly-appointed FM Ri Yong Ho convened a post-congress meeting w 3 agenda:
How to set timeframe for completion of nuclear program
To what extent will sanctions against NK escalate?
What journey to take to be accepted as nuclear state? (402-404) 19/

Ambs agreed that completion of nuclear weapons development program must be achieved as soon as possible in order to minimize the damage to NK’s economy from protracted sanctions. "We set the completion date to late-2017 for the following reasons:" 20/

“The US holds presidential election in late-2016. The new admin will take up to mid-2017 to get its new NK policy team in order. In late-2017 SK holds election, & the new admin will come to power in Feb 2018. Hence, until early-2018 the US & SK will be too distracted to" 21/

"closely coordinate a policy. The period from late-2016 to late-2017 is a political vacuum for these nations. The US will not be able to take military action against the DPRK during this time. We have endured sanctions all this time and will be able endure them for the" 22/

foreseeable future. Even if sanctions intensify, they don’t have a card that NK must fear. The remaining question was what steps to take in order to become accepted as a nuclear state. The ambs concluded NK should creatively apply the India and Pakistan model." 23/

“From early-2018 when the new admin takes power in SK, NK should forge a peaceful environment that consolidates its status as a nuclear state. At this time, NK should announce a moratorium on nuclear tests as India and Pakistan did in the past and condition SK and the US to 24/

grow ‘immune” to our nukes.” But in SK impeachment led to Moon taking office in May 2017. Hence, we had to accelerate our nuclear program. The 3 ICBMs & 6th nuclear test in 2nd half of 2017 were a function of this new schedule which called for a ‘sprint to the finish line.’” END

@threadreaderapp Unroll thread, please.