The online edition of Newsweek magazine reported Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il warned his confidants in early 1990 that his country could encounter the same fate as the regime of Romanian dictator Nicolai Ceausescu, who was executed by his own people.

Citing Japanese sources, the U.S. weekly quoted Kim as then saying "we will be killed by the people," as he witnessed the news media's coverage of the killing of the Romanian strongman.

According to the article titled, "Survival Mode," Kim had his close aides watch the video clip of Ceausescu being executed several times, as a wake-up call to the dangers that may befall his regime if it loses control of the people.

The article also quoted a source who recently visited Pyongyang as saying that he heard Kim say that the North cannot give up its nuclear arms program because its conventional weapons are too obsolete.