Back from the dead: when South Korean partisan politics hurts North Korea policy | NK News
NK News Logo
October 04, 2026Oct 04, 2026
NK News Logo

Get behind the headlines

Weapon Directory

Opinion

Back from the dead: when South Korean partisan politics hurts North Korea policy

A recent gaffe by a freshman lawmaker highlights how detached from reality the country's conservatives have become
Fyodor Tertitskiy May 4, 2020
Copy Icon COPY LINK Mastodon Icon MASTODON
Back from the dead: when South Korean partisan politics hurts North Korea policy
KCTV

Views expressed in Opinion articles are exclusively the authors’ own and do not represent those of NK News.

On April 30, amid a storm of international speculation about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s health, the recently-elected South Korean lawmaker Ji Seong-ho announced that there was a 99% chance that Kim was dead.

On May 2, Kim Jong Un, alive and well, appeared in public, proving Mr. Ji wrong. He has since apologised.

Ji is not your average lawmaker, of course. He is one of two representatives in the current National Assembly who was born in North Korea.

© Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved.
No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group.

Get the Daily Update & Podcast Updates

Start your day with
the North Korea stories that matter most –

as selected by

daily-brush-stroke

Never miss a beat. Try the new mobile app.
© 2026, Korea Risk Group (NK Consulting Inc.). All Rights Reserved