'Kim Jong-un is political orphan'

Defector poet Jang Jin-sun recently described North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as a virtual “political orphan.”

In an interview with CNN, Thursday, Jang said, “Kim has become an orphan in terms of political implications as well as in family relations since the execution of Jang Song-thaek, then the North’s No. 2 man and Kim’s uncle.”

Kim Jong-un has failed to set up a human network inside the North as he spent school days in Switzerland, compared to his deceased father Kim Jong-il, who had friends deployed in the leadership of the communist party, according to Jang.

Jong-un has been backed by supporters of his father in the process of taking power and has become only a figurehead leader without respect from the people, he added.

Jang said he was surprised when he met late Kim Jong-il as he looked like an ordinary man despite the propaganda of glorifying him as a holy person dedicated to the welfare of the people.