US ouster of Maduro nightmare scenario for Kim: N. Korean ex-diplomat
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Lee Il-kyu, a former North Korean diplomat stationed in Cuba, who defected to South Korea in November 2023, poses for a photo during an interview with AFP in Seoul.
SEOUL - The dramatic US operation that overthrew Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro this month may have left North Korean leader Kim Jong Un feeling he was also vulnerable to "decapitation", a former Pyongyang envoy to Havana told AFP.
In a wide-ranging interview, Lee Il-kyu -- who served as Pyongyang's political counsellor in Cuba from 2019 until 2023 -- said Washington's lightning extraction in Caracas was a worst-case scenario for his former boss.
"Kim must have felt that a so-called 'decap
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