Footage of North Korean communist leader Kim Jong Un crying over his country’s abysmal economy was reportedly shown among the country’s top government brass.
The footage, which surfaced in April, pictured Kim “standing on an unspecified stretch of coastline gazing toward the horizon as tears trickle down his cheek,” the paper reported, citing the defector, who once worked for North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea.
At the same time in the video, a narrator explains how their leader is “distraught” over his failure to boost the economy into a major power. The defector was given knowledge about the video from a contact who is currently in North Korea.
Kim’s rare public display of emotion is an indication that the international sanctions spearheaded by President Donald Trump are having a significant impact.
Recently, Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have both promised North Korea a bright and prosperous future should its leader abandon nuclear weapons.
“I truly believe North Korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial Nation one day,” Trump wrote on Twitter on May 27. “Kim Jong Un agrees with me on this. It will happen!”
The White House was preparing to impose new sanctions on North Korea on Monday, but a U.S. official informed reporters that the measures would be postponed indefinitely while talks about the summit proceed.
Meanwhile, American and North Korean officials are working to prepare for the June 12 summit between Trump and Kim. Pompeo will meet with North Korea’s vice chairman, Kim Yong Chol, in New York City on May 30 and 31, according to a State Department spokesperson.
Pompeo and Kim will discuss preparations for the expected summit in Singapore between the two leaders.
Trump’s stance on North Korea is consistent with his opposition to communism and socialism. Trump views both ideologies as disastrous and murderous while North Korea is a clear example of a late-stage communist regime.
The country is covered with dozens of large-scale labor camps where hundreds of thousands of people are feared to have perished. Meanwhile, the majority of the population is starving, with most of the resources going toward Kim’s dream of building a nuclear missile.
“From the Soviet Union to Cuba, Venezuela—wherever through socialism or communism has been adopted, it has delivered anguish, devastation, and failure,” Trump said during a speech at the United Nations last year. “Those who preach the tenets of these discredited ideologies only contribute to the continued suffering of the people who live under these cruel systems. America stands with every person living under a brutal regime.”
