North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been imposing a reign of terror as more than half of ordinary North Korean people have experienced capitalism through an inflow of outside information, a former North Korean diplomat said Tuesday.

Ri Il-gyu, a former counselor of political affairs at the North Korean Embassy in Cuba, made the remark at a special lecture at the secretariat of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council.

“More than half of ordinary North Korean people have experienced capitalism. That’s why Kim Jong-un has started a reign of terror,” Ri said.

The former diplomat said the elite group in North Korea had already begun feeling disillusioned with the regime under the rule of Kim Jong-il, late father of the current leader.

Kim Jong-un took power in late 2011 after his father died of heart failure.

With his family, Ri, known as a seasoned North Korean diplomat in charge of Cuban affairs, defected to South Korea in November last year.

His defection came under the spotlight as it came amid intens
e efforts by South Korea to establish a diplomatic relationship with Cuba. In February, the two countries forged formal ties in a surprise decision widely seen as a setback for North Korea, which has long boasted of its brotherly relations with Havana.

Source: Yonhap News Agency