Kim Jong Un’s authority comes from grandpa Kim Il Sung, whose supposed military exploits vs Japan & US form the very foundation & legitimacy of the Kim dynasty. But Il Sung did not liberate Korea or defeat the US, despite what the #DPRK says. State lies undergird the dynasty. 1/ Kim Il Sung's official Eng biographer, Baik Bong: "On Aug 8, 1945, [USSR] finally declared war on Japan. Kim Il Sung, who had already completed his operation plan for the final decisive offensives against Japanese imperialism, immediately ordered the mobilization of all units" 2/

On the genesis of "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," a loaded term coined by #KimIlSung (조선반도의 비핵화) in 1975, how we have come to love Big Brother & what it means, & why @POTUS admin is right to say "denuclearization of North Korea." @Mister_G_2 @freekorea_us 1/ At their meeting on April 18, 1975, Mao rejected Kim 's request for help building the bomb. Thereafter, Kim came up with the idea of calling for withdrawal of US nuclear warheads from SK while calling for a “Korean Peninsula Nuclear-Free Zone.” (Thae Yong Ho, 2018 Memoir, 44). 2/

2 years ago today, #Trump walked out on #KimJongUn in Hanoi, w lunch all set on table. Greatest snub princeling-turned-deified dictator has ever faced. Trum walked away from a deal that would have enabled Kim to build more bombs undisturbed. but he also embarrassed himself by 1/ saying at the presser Kim had told him that Kim didn't know about the hostage-taking, torture & unlawful killing of #OttoWarmbier, "and I will take him at his word." Otto's parents issued a statement: "We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out." 2/

#KCNA 8/14: #KimJongUn relieved Premier Kim Jae Ryong of #DPRK Cabinet & appointed Kim Tok Hun new premier.

Before much meaningless verbiage is spilled over the meaning of this, here's former NK diplomat @Thaeyongho on hierarchy & myth of "Military-First Politics." My tr. 1/ “Many N. Korea experts in the South assessed that in the wake of Kim Jong Il brandishing his “Military Politics” slogan during the famine of the late-1990s, power in the DPRK had shifted from the party to the military. Since Kim Jong Un came to power," 2/
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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/

@Thaeyongho speaks at @Heritage 9:00am EST 8/12 & @CSIS 9:00am 8/13. A thread on the ex-#DPRK diplomat's take on NK ploys & #KimJongUn's 2018 post-provocation outreach plan etc from his fabulous memoir (in Korean). All ENG tr. my own. @BruceKlingner @SueMiTerry @VictorDCha Page numbers in parentheses. Here we go.

I. #KimIlSung's "Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" racket

#MaoZedong told Kim at dinner 4/18/1975 not to "even dream of developing nuclear weapons," as it "will devastate the economy and people’s lives will suffer.” (44) 2/

#Despotess #KimYoJong (7/10): #DPRK must not agree to another KJU-Trump summit this year bc:

1. Useful to US, useless "to us"
2. Sitting w Americans a waste of time & risks damaging the special rels b/t KJU & Trump
3. No need to grant a summit predicted by "Trash-like Bolton" 1/ "The US must be afraid it may receive the hitherto undelivered Christmas gift before the election."

Says KJU made it clear to #Trump at 6/30/19 meeting he'll never swap additional denuclearization measures Trump wants with petty sanctions relief just for rapid econ dev't
2/

#KimYoJong reveals her true colors. #KCNA full text:

Kim Yo Jong, first vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, released the following statement on Saturday:

I fully sympathize with the statement released by the director of the 1/ United Front Department of the Central Committee of the WPK yesterday.

If the south Korean authorities have now capability and courage to carry out at once the thing they have failed to do for the past two years, why are the north-south relations still in stalemate like now? 2/

Biggest story in #SouthKorea today is Lee Yong-Su, former "#ComfortWoman" who exposed Yoon Mi-Hyang, former head of the civic support group, of systematic embezzlement. This THREAD is on Yoon's husband. A tale of spies, jail term, reinstatement, blackmail. tinyurl.com/ydaclhf8 In 1993 Kim Sam-Seok (KIM), Yoon's husband, & KIM's sister were indicted for violation of SK's National Security Law; in particular, receiving cash from Hantongryeon (재일한국민주통일연합), a front for #DPRK, & transferring mil. secrets to NK during several visits to Japan. 2/