A British ally of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has insisted the dictator is "very much alive" during a tense interview on Piers Morgan's YouTube show Uncensored.
Dermot Hudson, who lives in London and supports North Korea and Communism, appeared on the programme on October 22 and faced direct questions about Jong-Un's health amid widespread rumours of his death. Morgan later likened the exchange to "parody".
Questioning the dictator's status
Morgan asked: "Is Kim Jong-Un alive, or is he dead?", to which Hudson replied: "He's very much alive. Firstly, I disagree with your characterisation of Marshal Kim Jong-Un as a dictator."
Hudson described Jong-Un as "a people's leader. He's an elected leader. He is accountable to the-" before Morgan cut him off to ask: "How many people has he killed?"
Denials over killings and prisons
Hudson haltingly replied: "None. Well, except one individual, a traitor, who was found guilty of treason by a special military tribunal." When Morgan pressed whether Jong-Un had only been responsible for one death, Hudson said: "Well, I wouldn't actually even say that he was responsible. It was a decision of a special military tribunal because of long-running crimes…"
Asked how many people Jong-Un had "tortured", Hudson answered "none". When Morgan queried how many political opponents had been sent to "prisons, gulags", Hudson responded: "There aren't gulags in… that's a Russian word. Gulag is a Russian word."
Morgan clarified: "I know, but you know what I mean by gulag. A big, oppressive prison somewhere. How many has he sent to those?" Hudson again repeated: "None."
Rumours dismissed
When Morgan asked why Hudson was "so unbelievably deluded about this guy", he refused to answer and instead returned to the death rumours. He said: "Anyway, to answer… to answer the points you've raised. I mean, these rumours that have spread, I knew straightaway that they were not true. They were being made by some random Chinese person in New York on the internet, who could not possibly know."
Morgan then asked if Hudson had heard directly from Kim Jong-Un. After a long pause, Hudson admitted: "Well, no, but…" Asked whether he had ever spoken to him, Hudson replied: "I've seen him on many occasions. I've not spoken to him, but he's waved at me."
Asked how that made him feel, Hudson said: "It made me feel quite proud. Proud to be there when he was there. It was actually celebrating a very important occasion, the 80th anniversary of the foundation of the Workers' Party of Korea."
