Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for joining us, Mr. Kirby.
I don't know whether you have a lot of information on the situation in North Korea, on what is happening inside the country. I believe that repression always contains an economic aspect. For instance, it is easy to see that in the example of the Holocaust, when Germany's entire economy was tied in with the concentration camp activities. Moreover, the mass murder of millions of Jews in Europe was a source of revenue and funded their own repression.
According to what I have heard, in North Korea, there is a new privileged class of North Koreans who work in factories on the border that are often controlled by large international companies. The people who work there have absolutely amazing lifestyles compared to ordinary North Koreans who are starving. The source of the regime's collapse is probably the creation of a privileged class of North Koreans who are exploiting their peers. In addition, the funding mostly comes from factories operated by South Korean or Chinese companies.
What are your thoughts on that?