Recently, the top leaders were required to swear fealty and loyalty to Kim's youngest son, who is 26 years old.  His mother's brother is the presumed regent who will oversee his further preparation to be the next ruler.  This young man has gone to private schools in Switzerland and is working in a North Korean consulate office in Europe.  He is reported to speak several languages including English.  He has been prepared to rule very much like the English princes.  The old man with the 'bad hair' doesn't want the generals to take over when he kicks the bucket.  This is a reasonable precaution.  He knows that the generals will make a real mess if they try to govern; witness the troubles of Burma/Myanmar. 

 

The weapons testing is a bluff, trying to keep the rest of the world a little off-balance while the closest people to "Chairman Kim" consolidate their power over the generals.  It's all about assuring the continuation of the dynasty.  The rulers in the North are a real Machiavellian bunch, always trying to connive and undercut one another.  One example: the cover story is that the 'young prince's mother' died of cancer, but there is a persistent rumor that she was poisoned.

 

The two women reporters were in the wrong place at the wrong time and got snapped up as bargaining chips in the power game.  They may be used to get extra food for next winter or to gain some other concessions.  But you can be sure that they will be used to consolidate the regime's power and to make the generals 'lose face'.  I expect to see them released within the next two years, at the latest.  They aren't going to be abused, because the Kim crowd would 'lose face' if that happened. 

Well, that's the latest gossip about the North from here.      Hugs, ~ Sil