Former NIS chief Kim Kyu-hyun said, "Kim Jong-un's biggest threat is the Jangmadang generation."

Kim Kyu-hyun, former head of the National Intelligence Service, argued that the biggest threat to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is the "Jangmadang generation" born in the 1980s and 1990s, and that a cultural psychological exhibition tailored to its characteristics should be conducted.

Kim, who served as the first NIS director of the Yoon Suk Yeol government, made the remarks as a presenter of a human rights seminar held at the press center by a North Korean human rights organization.

Former director Kim introduced that the Jangmadang generation, aged 25 to 44, which accounts for 29% of North Korea's total population, did not benefit from the authorities as they grew up under the "March of Suffering," and participated in Jangmadang, a general market, and had contact with external cultures.

At the same time, Kim's definition of inter-Korean relations as a "hostile two-state relationship" was also considered to be a strong defense to block the Jangmadang generation's longing for South Korea.

Former director Kim predicted that the close relationship between North Korea and Russia will not last long, saying that the reason Russia is close to North Korea is only a tactical dimension to receive insufficient conventional weapons.