North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was nominated chairman of the Korean Workers’ Party, but more North Koreans do not hold him in high regard, an activist says. File Photo by Rodong Sinmun

SEOUL, May 20 (UPI) -- Kim Jong Un has yet to earn the grudging respect of ordinary North Koreans.

Most North Koreans who do not curry favor with the regime do not refer to him as the "general" or the "supreme leader," according to defector and activist Jeong Kwang-il.


In the past, North Korean leaders were addressed with honorifics, Jeong said, according to South Korean newspaper Donga Ilbo.

"But nowadays when I speak to North Koreans on the phone, they just call him 'Jong Un,' the way one would refer to a friend," Jeong said.

RELATED Military official sentenced for leaking North Korea SLBM secrets

The North Koreans Jeong referred to are most likely sources of information located in the country.

That trend could be frustrating the young Kim, who recently was declared "Chairman" during North Korea's Seventh Party Congress.

The new role was announced in order to consolidate his rule over the country and for Kim to follow in the footsteps of his biological grandfather Kim Il Sung.

RELATED North Korea calls for military talks with South

But the lack of reforms and improvement to people's lives could be having a greater effect on perceptions of Kim in the country.

Jeong also said during a conference held Thursday in London that defector activism, including the delivery of South Korean videos, such as films of resettled defectors in the South, are making an impact on North Korean understanding of the outside world.

Jeong and his organization No Chain has delivered a total of 500-600 compact discs or flash drives since 2012. Memory cards that can be placed inside mobile phones have also been sent across the border.

RELATED Russia targets North Korea with financial sanctions

North Koreans caught viewing banned material are being let go, that is, if they can bribe officers, which allows the media to circulate across the country.

Disillusioned with the regime after viewing the media, some North Koreans have started to call the leader "that guy Jong Un" or sometimes "that kid," according to Jeong.

There's evidence North Koreans are no longer afraid to breach rules of conduct, the activist said.