N. Korean leader chooses party-centered system on concerns about military coup: ex-diplomat

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has implemented a party-centered political system and bolstered state control due to concerns that a potential military coup could bring down the regime, a former North Korean diplomat said Friday.

Ri Il-gyu, a former counselor of political affairs at the North Korean Embassy in Cuba, made the remark at a forum hosted by the Institute for National Security Strategy on the assessment of the North Korean regime.

Since assuming power in late 2011, the North’s leader has strengthened the role of the ruling Workers’ Party in a shift from his predecessor and late father Kim Jong-il’s military-first or “songun” policy.

“(Kim Jong-un) appeared to think that unless he swiftly builds up a party-led control system over the military, he would not be able to gain control over the military and the risk of regime collapse, including a coup, could be realized,” Ri said.

He said North Korea’s public sentiment toward the Kim Jong-un regime has seriously deteriorated amid the country’s strict surveillance system and economic challenges resulting from years of international sanctions and COVID-19-related border shutdown.

“North Korea’s elites’ discontent and anxiety have peaked, with senior officials being continuously replaced and demoted (under the Kim regime),” Ri said.

Still, the North Korean regime has been buttressed by the elite group who believes maintaining the status quo is better than regime collapse even if they are living under surveillance, he said.

“It is important to prod North Korea to change course by persuading it that reform and opening will eventually be helpful for the North,” Ri noted.