{"id":136331,"date":"2026-08-29T21:03:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T21:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/136331\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T21:03:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T21:03:08","slug":"i-met-kim-jong-un-the-terrifying-rules-and-how-one-criticism-could-end-you-world-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/136331\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I met Kim Jong-un – the terrifying rules and how one criticism could end you’ | World | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

One man who knows full well the dangers of unchecked executive power is Lee Il-gyu, a former North Korean diplomat who worked as a deputy director in the Hermit Kingdom’s foreign<\/a> ministry.<\/p>\n

In November 2018, Il-gyu oversaw on-site coordination for Cuban President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel\u2019s visit to Pyongyang. The two-day programme included talks with Jong-un, a banquet at Mokran House and a performance at the capital’s May Day Stadium.<\/p>\n

Il-gyu said his interactions with the despot were largely limited to responding to Jong-un’s follow-up queries, such as what aircraft the Cubans arrived on, what food<\/a> they liked, and the country’s population statistics.<\/p>\n

Meeting Kim Jong-un for the first time<\/p>\n

Naturally, the interviewer was curious what it felt like to meet Jong-un. Il-gyu said in a translation in a joint video for Dimple Video and The NK Guys on YouTube<\/a>: “The first time was at the airport. In the VIP waiting room, my whole body was tight with nerves. The first thing I said, I could hear my own voice shaking as I spoke.<\/p>\n

“But it only lasted a moment. If I’d stayed that tense, I couldn’t have done my job properly. And failing at that job carries serious consequences, so I pulled myself together fast. Anyway, at first, I was extremely nervous.”<\/p>\n

Il-gyu claims his impression “wasn’t quite” what the North Korean media likes to describe, in that it’s like “meeting a God”. Yet it also “didn’t feel like ordinary contact” between human beings either.<\/p>\n

Impressions of Jong-un’s character<\/p>\n

He says every moment during those days was loaded with tension. “What struck me most”, he continued, “or rather, in those short two days, I saw Kim Jong-un<\/a>\u2019s cruelty, and I also saw an ordinary human being.”<\/p>\n

Il-gyu says Jong-un is capable of laughter and even showing “consideration”, but he also learned how “cruel and how terrifying” a person with unchecked power can be. He recalled how a 60-year-old interpreter being disciplined after irritating Jong-un and “cutting in” while he was speaking.<\/p>\n

One word of criticism<\/p>\n

He claims Jong-un called him an “insolent man” even though he was simply doing his job translating, and ordered that he never be allowed “near” him again.<\/p>\n

The interpreter was carted off, but he says the man escaped execution because he had a brother-in-law in the Organisation and Guidance Department, and was released after “criticism sessions”; this invovled writing self-criticisms for an entire week.<\/p>\n

Il-gyu says: “At the time, we honestly thought the man’s life was over. One word of criticism from Kim Jong-un<\/a> changes a person’s fate.”<\/p>\n

Training to meet the Supreme Leader<\/p>\n

Later in the video, he revealed that those who meet Jong-un must undergo a month of special training and outlined the rules they must abide by.<\/p>\n

“The most basic ones cover speech and conduct. So don’t fidget, don’t sway, no unnecessary movements. And don’t look Kim Jong-un<\/a> directly in the face for any length of time. And if he turns and comes your way, step aside politely.<\/p>\n

“Don’t scramble or panic. Move aside politely and carry yourself with composure. And as for speaking, before Kim Jong-un asks you a question, you must never speak to him on your own initiative or volunteer any show of excitement. Absolutely not.”<\/p>\n

Everything is recorded<\/p>\n

“You answer only when he asks, and that answer can’t be like the way I’m talking now, rambling on with unnecessary detail. Short, concise, and as accurate as possible. Above all, never pretend to know something you don’t. Everything around him is recorded.”<\/p>\n

He explained that the regime frames the recording as “compiling the chronicle of revolutionary history” and that secretaries will follow him around recording everything he says, adding that you must never lie.<\/p>\n

Il-gyu also says you mustn’t stand out favourably either, so no flattery or “forcing a fake smile”. Summing up his impression of Jong-un, he reiterated that he’s only a “human”, but there is no force inside North Korea capable of checking him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One man who knows full well the dangers of unchecked executive power is Lee Il-gyu, a former North…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136332,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6066,4942,141,31,34,69233,69234],"class_list":["post-136331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-north-korea","tag-human-rights","tag-human-rights-violations","tag-kim-jong-un","tag-korea","tag-north-korea","tag-north-korean-defector","tag-unchecked-power"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}