Kim Jong-un sheds tears as he delivers rare apology to North Korea over failings

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian and agencies

Kim Jong-un sheds tears as he delivers rare apology to North Korea over failings

Analysts say emotional speech suggests Kim is feeling pressures on his leadership linked to Covid and nuclear sanctions

Justin McCurry in Tokyo and agencies
Mon 12 Oct 2020 06.27 BST

The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, shed tears as he issued a rare apology for his failure to guide the country through tumultuous times exacerbated by the coronavirus outbreak.

Speaking at a huge military parade held at the weekend to mark the 75th anniversary of the ruling Workers’ party, Kim removed his glasses and wiped away tears – an indication, analysts say, of mounting pressure on his regime.

“Our people have placed trust, as high as the sky and as deep as the sea, in me, but I have failed to always live up to it satisfactorily,” he said, according to a translation of his comments in the Korea Times. “I am really sorry for that.”

Citing his grandfather and father – North Korea’s previous two leaders – Kim continued: “Although I am entrusted with the important responsibility to lead this country upholding the cause of the great comrades Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il thanks to the trust of all the people, my efforts and sincerity have not been sufficient enough to rid our people of the difficulties in their lives.”

While the parade in the capital, Pyongyang, featured the expected unveiling of a new intercontinental ballistic missile and other military hardware, analysts said Kim had used a sizeable portion of his speech to sympathise with the North Korean people.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/12/kim-jong-un-sheds-tears-as-he-delivers-rare-apology-to-north-korea-over-failings

[soothsayer]

1. Maybe drumpf will cry tonight

[Mike 03]

2. For some strange reason I find this quite interesting. NT

[Laelth]

3. So do I. n/t

-Laelth

[Polly Hennessey]

4. I wonder if his sister made him do it.

I wonder if she is the real power in the family.

[soryang]

5. The parade and Kim's speech were all part of a carefully orchestrated spectacle

It is clear that it served its purposes domestically and internationally in his view without crossing any red lines. The speech struck a conciliatory tone with the South, that one might regard somewhat cynically after recent events. Generally, Kim's diplomacy has taken to emulating the good cop, bad cop routine the US displayed after Singapore.

One has to wonder whether Kim watches South Korean television dramas. The scene was one that could be seen in the living room of an imaginary South Korean family during challenging times. Tears were shed all around. The speech was very theatrical. Even as scripted as these North Korean events go, it would be hard not to be overcome by emotion, under the circumstances in North Korea.

Nevertheless, the demeanor of Kim and his coterie after his speech indicates the entire performance was regarded as a great success, at least as far as they were concerned.