CIA Analyst on What Drives North Korea’s Kim Jong Un

Columbus Day likely to see another NKorea provocation says senior CIA official

North Koreans watch a statement delivered by dictator Kim Jong Un on a television screen outside of the railway station in Pyongyang on Sept. 22. A top CIA analyst says Kim is not irrational and must face a strong threat from the United States in order to be restrained. Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images

North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un may launch a missile or take some other calculated action on Columbus Day, but that doesn’t make the dictator irrational, suggested a top CIA official for the Korean Peninsula.

Not speculating as to what exactly Kim may do, Yong Suk Lee, deputy assistant director of the CIA’s Korea Mission Center, told students and reporters at George Washington University that he expected some new provocation from Kim on Oct 10.