Friday, 12 June 2009
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What we in the south have heard about North Korea
South Korea has spies in the north, of course. We know that the pictures the north released and the world has been seeing of Kim Jong -il are "file photos" since last summer. Actually, the last dated photos were taken shortly after the former South Korean president visited. At that time, Kim looked sick, with blotches on his face and significantly greyed hair. Pictures you see now show him looking up to ten years younger. So, he is definitely sick, probably at death's door.
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
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Comments (13)
Interesting post about the real situation in North Korea . I guess all the rivalties around the dying monarch and his successor .
Indeed Kim Jong does not look very sick on the recent and rare pictures . Propaganda !
Thanks Sil
Love
Michel
It's wonderful to have this little bit of insight, thanks dear :)
@fauquet - A lot of what we in the South are told is also propaganda, but there is much more real information here because the local people speak the same language and have more connections. We can hear the North's radio broadcasts and mobile phone calls; the South has listening stations all along the border. I have actually talked to officers of military intelligence on the subway; they wanted to practice their English and I was curious about the official perception of the North's actions. I was plainly not a Northern spy and they have been very frank and honest. (I know how to spot a 'guarded response' after years of experience.)
Interesting perspective. I sure hope you're right and those two young women can come home soon. It's so sad that they are being played as pawns in a bigger power struggle game.
wow
Thank you for the insight. It is sad but true that, despite having the world at our keyboards, we in the U.S. have only the foggiest idea of what's going on in the world.
The scary part is that silly old men, like my husband, often think the best thing to do is to drop explosives on a situation they don't like.
I'm so glad you posted this, Sil.
@l'empress - Dropping bombs is simple, but full of unintended consequences, such as civilian casualties and the creation of revengeful people (another generation of terrorists). Let us hope that policy-makers learn from Iraq that dropping explosives on a situation they don't like is counter-productive. [small parenthetical comment: I'm surprised at the lack of anger toward Americans from Vietnamese, considering the large and increasing number of children with Agent Orange birth defects they are burdened with.]
Well I'm glad you cleared that up as the news I see is scary.
Thanks, Sil. As others have noted, you've provided a more detailed analysis than the general news media here have provided. (You may recall how shallow foreign news coverage used to be here in the U.S. I'm afraid that in the past year or so, as the news organizations keep cutting back on staffing, it has become even more feeble.)
@Shirlann - It is sad, and it's sort of a copy of the Iran case, although NK will try to get some material aid in exchange for the young women.
@jimsjournal - Most of this information is available publicly on the internet; LA Times and CS Monitor, BBC and Reuters. I talk to local people to get a sense of the local news (since I can't read Korean very quickly). About once a week, I go to a restaurant and watch the evening news. I can ask questions of the waitress, who speaks pretty good English. If I happen to be on the street during the monthly civil defense drill, I ask people about their sense of peril/preparedness. (We are required to go to the nearest doorway or subway entrance and wait for the 'all clear' siren.)
Koreans have a very strong sense of family, and people in the north are seen as their cousins, under the thumb of a bad government. When you live "next door" to a neurotic family, you get used to their quirks. NK's government is a bunch of bad actors doing "The Mouse That Roared."
Goodness, what a true mess this is. And what if the kid revolts?
It's so interesting and enlightening to read about the situation in North and South Korea from the perspective of someone who lives there, as much of what I read in the newspapers here in the States is a bit alarming. Thanks for this post, Sil.
And thanks for visiting my blog and for your kind comment. I've enjoyed so much visiting yours. God bless you and your family.
Beth