Kim Jong Un is struggling to win his military’s loyalty, according to a former North Korean spy as reported by the Australian Associated Press. The supreme leader of the isolated and highly secretive republic is using the nuclear program to keep the public behind him, facing internal insecurities and problems with the uniformed guards that has helped keep him and his family into power for almost a century.

Kim Hyun-Hee, who successfully carried out a mission in 1987 to blow up a South Korean airliner, which killed 115 people, said that the North Korean leader is too young and inexperienced.

The former spy told ABC-TV that, “he’s struggling to gain complete control over military and to win their loyalty.” She said that the supreme leaders numerous visits recently to military bases is meant to firm up support.

She also said that Kim Jong Un is “using the nuclear program as a bargaining chip for aid, to keep the public behind him.”

The Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, official name of the country, told its foreign diplomats in Pyongyang they had until April 10 to consider evacuating. The notice fueled speculations of an imminent missile launch. The warning includes a note saying that the country cannot guarantee the protection of diplomats if and when armed conflicts arise.

Hyun-Hee says that she was “chosen” to become a spy for North Korea when a black sedan suddenly showed up at her school. She was told about her selection, to pack her things and spend one last night with her family.

In 1980, she was then sent to the elite spy-training school of the communist country, was given a new name and trained in martial arts, weapons and languages.

Eight years later, in 1987, she was personally ordered by the late Kim Jong-Il, father of the country’s current leader Kim Jong Un, to bomb Korean Air Flight 858 in the lead-up to the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

She said that the move was aimed at keeping nations from competing at the games.

After boarding with a fellow spy, Hyun-Hee planted the bomb and disembarked at a stopover in the Gulf.

Nine hours later the bomb exploded at the Seoul-bound flight, killing all passengers and crew aboard.

Hyun-Hee was later arrested after she tried to leave Bahrain using a fake passport.

After attempting to commit suicide with cyanide, Hyun-Hee was taken to South Korea for trial and given a death sentence.

She was judged to be a victim of North Korean brainwashing and was pardoned a few years later.

The former spy now lives in an undisclosed location in South Korea, surrounded by bodyguards.

“I deserved the death penalty for what I did,” Hyun-Hee said. "But I believe my life was spared because I was the only witness to this terror perpetrated by North Korea. As the only witness, it is my destiny to testify about the truth."