North Korea Unveils What Appears to Be New ICBM During Military ParadeThis is the surprising part to me:
Mr. Kim dedicated much of his speech to thanking his people, as well as his military, for enduring “huge challenges and difficulties,” including living under sanctions even as the country temporarily closed its border to its only major trading partner — China — to try to keep the coronavirus from slipping into North Korea. He also apologized to his people for failing to live up to their expectations.
“I am really sorry for that,” he said, appearing to fight back tears. “My efforts and sincerity have not been sufficient enough to rid our people of the difficulties in their life.”
Mr. Kim’s emotional apology was “a shrewd way of placing blame on circumstances beyond his control, and deflecting attention from the enormous resources poured into nuclear weapons,” Jean H. Lee, a North Korea expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, said in an email.
(Emphasis mine.) Insincere or not, he apologized. I don’t think that he or his father or grandfather have ever apologized in anyway before. Millennials!