North Korean elite is turning against Kim Jong-un, defector claims

'We have to spray gasoline on North Korea, and let the North Korean people set fire to it,' says Thae Yong-ho

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un delivering his new year message in Pyongyang (Getty)

Senior politicians and business leaders in North Korea are expressing their discontent and turning away from Kim Jong-un's regime, the country’s former ambassador to the UK has claimed.

The young leader has caused unrest among the country’s elite by “purging officials for no proper reasons” and making other irrational decisions, Thae Yong-ho told reporters at his first foreign news conference.

When he defected to South Korea last summer, he became the most senior official to do so in two decades.

More North Korean diplomats were preparing to follow his lead, he said.

“When Kim Jong-un first came to power, I was hopeful that he would make reasonable and rational decisions to save North Korea from poverty, but I soon fell into despair watching him purging officials for no proper reasons,” he said.

“Low-level dissent or criticism of the regime, until recently unthinkable, is becoming more frequent," he added. "We have to spray gasoline on North Korea, and let the North Korean people set fire to it.”

Mr Thae said he fled North Korea after becoming dissatisfied by Mr Kim’s increasingly erratic actions. He added that he did not want his sons to grow up living “miserable” lives.

Kim Jong-un might be willing “to attack Los Angeles” and other large US cities with nuclear weapons in the future, if he feels his country is being threatened, Mr Thae said.

“Kim Jong-un knows that nuclear weapons are the only guarantee for his rule," he added. "And Kim Jong-un, I think, will press the button on these dangerous weapons when he thinks that his rule and his dynasty is threatened."