NORTH KOREA GOES AFTER CIA
Regime says U.S. plotted to kill Kim Jong Un
North Korea accused the CIA of plotting to kill its supreme leader Kim Jong Un with a “bio-chemical” attack, as it threatened to “mercilessly destroy” U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies.
A spokesman for the regime on Friday claimed that a “terrorist” supported by the CIA attempted to poison Kim with radioactive material in April, according to Yonhap News. The plot was said to have involved an assassin named “Kim”, whom the regime said was paid US$ 40,000 by the CIA to kill the supreme leader during North Korea’s Day of the Sun parade.
“They told him that assassination by use of biochemical substances including radioactive substance and nano poisonous substance is the best method,” said state broadcaster KCNA.
“Then they handed him over US$20,000 on two occasions and a satellite transmitter-receiver and let him get (started).”
KCNA claimed the assassin was a “lumberjack” who used to work in Russia. Neither the CIA nor South Korean intelligence agencies have responded to the extraordinary allegations, which experts dismissed as regime propaganda.
North Korean propaganda frequently claims that foreign enemies are trying to kill the supreme leader, though it marks the first time the CIA has been directly accused of plotting a chemical attack on Kim.
“We will ferret out and mercilessly destroy to the last one the terrorists of the U.S. CIA,” a North Korean security minister said in a statement published by state media.
“( A) Korean- style antiterrorist attack will be commenced from this moment to sweep away the intelligence and plot- breeding organizations of the U. S. imperialists and the puppet clique (of South Korea),” added the statement, which was unusually detailed. The regime went on to claim that the chemical agent used “takes six to 12 months for its lethal effects to appear.”
Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been near boiling point since the country threatened to carry out its sixth nuclear test and threatened “imminent” war against the U.S.
The dictatorship has carried out five nuclear tests and a series of missile tests despite ever-tightening sanctions. Kim has also vowed to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile at any time that can strike the mainland U.S. with a nuclear weapon.
Soon after his inauguration, President Donald Trump instructed his national security team to undertake a wide-ranging review of how to deal with North Korea including “blue sky” ideas not considered previously. The National Security Council then presented him with a range of possibilities and all options were on the table, including assassinating Kim or placing nuclear weapons in South Korea.
Retired admiral James Stavridis said at the time that assassination would be “tempting” but “the question you have to ask is what happens the day after you decapitate? In North Korea it’s an enormous unknown.”
An attempt to kill Kim would be a stark reversal of U. S. foreign policy over the past four decades.
The claims come as Trump increases pressure on Kim’s regime to give up its nuclear weapons program, warning that military action was among the options he might consider. Still, Trump also said this week that he would be prepared to meet with Kim if the circumstances were right, and U.S. officials have said they’re not trying to oust or eliminate the North Korean leader.
“Our goal is not regime change,” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a speech at the UN last week. “Nor do we desire to threaten the North Korean people or destabilize the Asia Pacific region.”
According to an executive order signed by president Ronald Reagan, “no person employed by or acting on behalf of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, assassination.”
Experts suggested North Korea was trying to deflect accusations it uses chemical weapons by accusing its enemies of the same. Kim allegedly ordered the assassination of his half-brother, Kim Jong- nam, who was sprayed with a nerve agent by two women at Kuala Lumpur airport in February and died.
“This appears to be more about confusing or counteracting domestic rumours about how Kim Jong- nam was killed,” said Dr Adam Cathcart, a lecturer at Leeds University.