North Korea leader offers condolences for deceased actor

Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Kim Jong Un sent a message of condolence following the death of North Korean actor Choe Chang Su, state media said Tuesday.

Choe, who played the leading role in the 1989 North Korean film Im Kkokjong, televised in the South in 1998, was described as a national hero in Kim's message, according to KCNA.

Kim "sent a wreath to the memorial of the former head of Pyongyang Film Studio's actors group Choe Chang Su, a hero of endless dedication and a people's actor" on Monday, state media reported.

KCNA said Choe was "beloved by the [North Korean] people" and "made great contributions to the development of Juche film art." Juche refers to Pyongyang's ideology of self-reliance.

"He successfully played the hero and lead in many feature films, including feature film Wolmi Island and multi-part feature film The Nation and Destiny."

Choe became known in the South after one of his films, Im Kkokjong, was televised. The movie is about Im, a 16th-century Korean man who leads a peasant rebellion in Hwanghae Province against taxation.

Choe was born in 1942, and worked as a professor at Pyongyang University of Dramatic and Cinematic Arts, according to South Korean news service Seoul Pyongyang News.

Kim has not appeared in public since the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus in neighboring China.

The North Korean leader has declined dialogue with the United States, which has urged Pyongyang to pursue a path of denuclearization.

Thae Yong-ho, the former North Korean diplomat who defected to the South in 2016, said Tuesday the Kim regime has "no intention to denuclearize," while announcing his decision to run for a parliamentary seat, Yonhap reported.

"From the day I arrived in South Korea, I have consistently said the Kim Jong Un regime has no intention to denuclearize," Thae said. "I think all South Korean citizens have witnessed that Kim is not making any moves or taking actions toward denuclearization."