N. Korean Defector's Association, "Proposed Kim Jong-nam to Head the Government-in-exile...but

N. Korean Defector's Association, "Proposed Kim Jong-nam to Head the Government-in-exile...but He Opposed Third Generation Hereditary Rule"

Representatives from defector's organizations both inside and outside S. Korea proposed Kim Jong-nam to be a head of N. Korean government-in-exile, but he refused, arguing, "That is another third generation hereditary rule."

In an interview with Donga-ilbo on Feb. 19(local time,) Kim Ju-il, the Secretary-general of International North Korean Defector's Association based in UK, said, "I have been in contact with Kim Jong-nam for last year and a half, asking him to head the government-in-exile."

According to the paper, he and Kim Jong-nam first met in China in December, 2014, when Kim Jong-nam was returning from his visit to Pyongyang for the third anniversary of Kim Jong-il's death. Since then, Secretary-general Kim repeatedly made the proposal. Discussions have been going on among defectors both inside and outside S. Korea about establishing a government-in-exile based in a third country, robbing Kim Jong-un regime of its legitimacy.

Secretary-general Kim explained his reason for contacting Kim Jong-nam saying, "Ordinary N. Koreans do not know about Kim Jong-nam, but ruling elites do. If he heads the government-in-exile, I thought it can rattle the elites,"

However, according to him, Kim Jong-nam refused, arguing, "Even if I head (the government,) it is just another third generation hereditary rule. Hereditary rule of Kim family should stop now."

In their last contact with Kim Jong-nam in last June, the North Korean Defector's Association made the proposal again, which is relayed via a professor in Singapore who was close to Kim Jong-nam, who was staying in Singapore at the time, according to him.

The Association pleaded to him, "Somebody has to save N. Korean people who are languishing in poverty. In order to have the recognition of international society, the government-in-exile should be headed by an influential figure. You have to do this for no other reason than to rectify what your grandfather (Kim Il-sung) and father (Kim Jong-il) had done."

According to the paper, the Association tried to persuade him arguing, "If we succeed in N. Korean regime change with the help of international society, the issue of Kim Jong-un's execution would be raised. Your contribution to the regime change may help save his life. Kim Jong-un could win his life insurance thanks to you."

The principal reason Kim Jong-nam refused the proposal was, "I hate politics," but Secretary-general Kim believe that his negative view of the third generation hereditary rule is a bigger factor.

Kim Jong-nam reportedly supported the reform and opening of N. Korea, and was also sympathetic to defector's efforts.

There is indeed a movement to set up N. Korean government-in-exile.

N. Korea defectors want to set up government-in-exile

By Yi Whan-woo

Posted : 2016-10-12 15:47
Updated : 2016-10-12 18:54

Some North Korean defectors living in South Korea and other countries are considering setting up a government-in-exile in the United States with the goal of overthrowing the Kim Jong-un regime, sources here said Wednesday.

The group, mainly part of the political elite in North Korea and who are now leaders of anti-Pyongyang organizations, wants to establish the interim government by early next year.

However, the Ministry of Unification downplayed this as an unrealistic idea," saying "Our Constitution only recognizes a single government on the Korean Peninsula under the Republic of Korea and therefore we can't accept such a form of government."

The defectors have requested the Constitutional Court to judge whether it is against the Constitution to establish a government-in-exile against North Korea.

"We're awaiting interpretations from legal authorities," said An Chan-il, a defector-turned researcher who heads the World Institute for North Korea Studies in Seoul. "We could have begun the government-in-exile before 2017 but decided to take our time in line with a legal judgment."

An said the defectors decided to found the interim government amid a growing number of middle- and upper-class people fleeing North Korea and other signs of increased instability in the Kim regime.

"The political situation is rapidly changing and you can't predict what will happen in the next few years," An said.

"And it needs to be made clear that the purpose of the government-in-exile is to help South Korea cope with the possible fall of the North, not to confront the Park administration.

"In this climate, I'd say those who are against our plan are acting too sensitively," he added.

If set up, the interim government is likely to adopt liberal democracy while pursuing China's socialist market economy.

The defectors decided to go for Chinese-style economic liberalization to win support from Beijing, the sources said.

A former senior official of the ruling Workers' Party is being talked of as a potential representative for the interim government. The official, who was only identified as the "highest-ranking" defector, escaped from North Korea last year and lives in Washington D.C.

The proposal for the government-in-exile first came up in the 1990s when Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il were alive. But it did not win much support back then because the North Korean regime was relatively stable compared to the present, according to An.

Hwang Jang-yop, the architect of North Korea's official state ideology, reportedly planned to found a North Korean government-in-exile after defecting to South Korea in 1997. He died in 2010.

There are four governments-in-exile in the U.S., including one for Tibet, according to An.

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