By Casey Lartigue Jr.
No matter how much some people hate North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, North Korean escapee Lee Ae-ran hates him even more. At the entrance of her North Korean-styled restaurant in downtown Seoul, you can add a donation to her fundraising jar raising $1 million to put a bounty on the head of the current North Korean dictator.
As I explained last week after my speech at the Houses of Parliament (UK), I'm not suggesting that all or even most North Korean escapees agree with Lee. I am confident, however, that President Trump would find a receptive audience among many North Korean escapees during his trip to South Korea because of his "fire and fury" comments. North Korean escapee friends who criticized former President Obama for being weak on North Korea praise Trump.
A North Korean refugee friend who said he was tortured by North Korean agents was clear about his preferred US policy: "Kill Kim Jong-Un." As I wrote in 2014: "Why is he angry with America? He accuses it of being too soft on North Korea. He advocates assassinating, not talking with, the North Korean leader and the top elite. He says that North Korea's power comes from America dealing with it in a civilized way. The only way North Korea will come to its senses, he says, would be a brutal demonstration of American power, not polite American diplomacy."
In 1994, Kang Myeong-do, son of a former prime minister of North Korea, revealed secret details about North Korea's nuclear program. In a forum I organized in 2014, he emphasized the North Korea "problem" would not exist if the Clinton administration had taken radical action in the 1990s. He said the United States should now "starve" North Korea.
Other high-level defectors have told me that South Korea doesn't understand that North Korea is determined to reunify Korea by force. Some predict that North Korea will start a war within two years to fulfill Kim Il-Sung's dream. One high level North Korean defector who unapologetically announced at a forum I organized that he killed other runaways when he was a North Korean agent said that he still sleeps with the heat off during winter because he doesn't want to become "soft" like South Korean soldiers.
Another high-level defector jumped at a chance to join one of our forums speaking to US military members to encourage them to destroy the North Korean regime. They say that North Korea is preparing for war, South Korea and the USA are preparing for diplomacy.
Well, until Trump. When Kim Jong-Un recently toned down his rhetoric after Trump's verbal assault, several defectors and refugees told me: "See! Kim Jong-Un backed down because of Trump." They laugh that the North Korean dictator can't sleep peacefully with Trump threatening him in tweets and speeches. Many are disappointed when I tell them it is against US law to assassinate foreign leaders.
In addition to raising bounty money at her restaurant, Lee Ae-ran, 2010 winner of the US State Department's International Woman of Courage Award, has drafted a speech she hopes to share with Trump and the US military that includes the line: "Because the Kim Jong-Un regime is a murderous demonic group that tramples human rights, assassination is the only solution."
Murderous? Demonic? Assassination? In comparison, Trump calling Kim Jong-Un "rocket man" seems mild, even cute. I doubt that Trump will have time to stop by Lee's restaurant for a meal, but if he does, I'm sure she would be delighted if he took a photo with her, left a huge donation in the jar and then tweeted about it.
Casey Lartigue Jr. (CJL@post.harvard.edu.) is co-founder of the Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center (TNKR).
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As I explained last week after my speech at the Houses of Parliament (UK), I'm not suggesting that all or even most North Korean escapees agree with Lee. I am confident, however, that President Trump would find a receptive audience among many North Korean escapees during his trip to South Korea because of his "fire and fury" comments. North Korean escapee friends who criticized former President Obama for being weak on North Korea praise Trump.
A North Korean refugee friend who said he was tortured by North Korean agents was clear about his preferred US policy: "Kill Kim Jong-Un." As I wrote in 2014: "Why is he angry with America? He accuses it of being too soft on North Korea. He advocates assassinating, not talking with, the North Korean leader and the top elite. He says that North Korea's power comes from America dealing with it in a civilized way. The only way North Korea will come to its senses, he says, would be a brutal demonstration of American power, not polite American diplomacy."
In 1994, Kang Myeong-do, son of a former prime minister of North Korea, revealed secret details about North Korea's nuclear program. In a forum I organized in 2014, he emphasized the North Korea "problem" would not exist if the Clinton administration had taken radical action in the 1990s. He said the United States should now "starve" North Korea.
Other high-level defectors have told me that South Korea doesn't understand that North Korea is determined to reunify Korea by force. Some predict that North Korea will start a war within two years to fulfill Kim Il-Sung's dream. One high level North Korean defector who unapologetically announced at a forum I organized that he killed other runaways when he was a North Korean agent said that he still sleeps with the heat off during winter because he doesn't want to become "soft" like South Korean soldiers.
Another high-level defector jumped at a chance to join one of our forums speaking to US military members to encourage them to destroy the North Korean regime. They say that North Korea is preparing for war, South Korea and the USA are preparing for diplomacy.
Well, until Trump. When Kim Jong-Un recently toned down his rhetoric after Trump's verbal assault, several defectors and refugees told me: "See! Kim Jong-Un backed down because of Trump." They laugh that the North Korean dictator can't sleep peacefully with Trump threatening him in tweets and speeches. Many are disappointed when I tell them it is against US law to assassinate foreign leaders.
In addition to raising bounty money at her restaurant, Lee Ae-ran, 2010 winner of the US State Department's International Woman of Courage Award, has drafted a speech she hopes to share with Trump and the US military that includes the line: "Because the Kim Jong-Un regime is a murderous demonic group that tramples human rights, assassination is the only solution."
Murderous? Demonic? Assassination? In comparison, Trump calling Kim Jong-Un "rocket man" seems mild, even cute. I doubt that Trump will have time to stop by Lee's restaurant for a meal, but if he does, I'm sure she would be delighted if he took a photo with her, left a huge donation in the jar and then tweeted about it.
Casey Lartigue Jr. (CJL@post.harvard.edu.) is co-founder of the Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center (TNKR).
