A turncoat assassin sent to North Korea armed with “nano poison” to kill leader Kim Jong-un?…
A turncoat assassin sent to North Korea armed with “nano poison” to kill leader Kim Jong-un? It’s only the latest in a string of odd, as-yet-unproven accusations over the years that a proud, highly sensitive North Korea has levelled at its US and South Korean rivals. From South Korean plots to kidnap waitresses from the North to threats to target the exact coordinates of South Korea’s “reptile” anti-North Korea media, Pyongyang’s propaganda is awash with conspiracy theories and ultraviolent threats. One of the more head-turning claims was in 2012, when North Korea said South Korean spies persuaded a defector from the North to infiltrate the country and try to destroy, grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong-un. At a press conference in Pyongyang, a man identified as Jon Yong-chol said he was paid by South Korean agents to blow up a Kim Il-sung monument using a remote-controlled bomb. People who have appeared at similar events have later said they were coerced. North Korea, which has built a personality cult around the Kim clan, considers Kim Il-sung statues sacred. Pyongyang equated the plot to an “armed invasion” and vowed revenge. South Korea said Jon, who was arrested by North Korea before he could allegedly blow anything up, defected to the South in 2010. Officials in Seoul insisted the statue claim was “completely false”. North Korea regularly accuses South Korea of abducting or enticing its citizens to defect, although Seoul denies it. After 13 North Korean workers from a restaurant in China defected to South Korea in April last year, North Korea said they were kidnapped by South Korean spies. North Korea has repeatedly demanded their return. It even offered to send North Korean relatives to the South to reunite with the workers, although Seoul rejected the highly unusual overture.
