US ouster of Maduro nightmare scenario for Kim: North Korean ex-diplomat

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accompanied by his daughter Kim Ju Ae, directs a test of a large-caliber multiple-rocket launch system, in an unknown location, North Korea, January 27, 2026, in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on January 28, 2026. - KCNA via Reuters

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.