"Kim Jong Un Was 'Seriously Ill' in North Korea Covid Surge" by Jeong-Ho Lee and Shinhye Kang for Bloomberg

ONN's Regional Issues Manager and Senior Analyst Rachel Minyoung Lee shared her views of a recent speech by the North Korean leader's sister Kim Yo Jong.

"Kim Yo Jong delivered a carefully calibrated message to underscore that her brother has suffered, like the country's citizens, said Rachel Minyoung Lee, regional issues manager at the Vienna-based Open Nuclear Network. 'It is consistent with North Korea's leadership propaganda strategy in recent years that shifted from deifying the leader to portraying the leader as a regular human being who is constantly with the people and shares his life's joys and sorrows with the people,' said Lee" [...].

"Kim Yo Jong's threats were couched in conditional terms, analyst Lee said, adding 'it is uncertain as of now how far North Korea will go to escalate tensions with South Korea'."