All Hail Great Leader Kim Jong Un

[Lemur]

A little background on the Hermit Kingdom's new despot, Kim Jong Un.

Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Jong-un)

Onion page (http://www.theonion.com/articles/kim-jongun-privately-doubting-hes-crazy-enough-to,18374/)

BBC video (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16240149)

Short bio (http://www.businessinsider.com/kim-jong-un-2011-12?op=1)

Another short bio (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/5428300/Kim-Jong-un-a-profile-of-North-Koreas-next-leader.html)

So what do Orgahs think? Will the leadership change make any difference, beyond a slight destabilization of the nuclear-armed, malnourished nation of racist dwarfs (http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2010/02/a_nation_of_racist_dwarfs.html)? If NK is destabilized, how will we even know? What would a leadership struggle look like from the outside?

[drone]

Any one know what his lowest golf score is?

[Lemur]

One NK watcher's assessment: Leadership change means stasis (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/12/19/kim-jong-un-s-shaky-hold-on-power-in-north-korea.html).

The regency will emphasize continuity above all, but change is not impossible. If it can preserve stability, Kim Jong-un may be able gradually to establish his own power. Yet it is also possible that the different factions in the leadership will fight among themselves over power and resources. That could create an unstable situation. [...]

With Kim’s death, the prospects for regional negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear program and other issues in the near term are very low. The successor regime will have to consolidate itself before it will be prepared to engage the United States, South Korea, and others. There had been movement toward such engagement, but little can happen now.

[TinCow]

This Kim seems like a good Un. Unlike the last guy, who was constantly Il.


More seriously, I'm concerned. I've read a fair amount about North Korea over the last couple years (this book (http://www.amazon.com/Under-Loving-Care-Fatherly-Leader/dp/0312322216) comes highly recommended) and it seems like there wasn't remotely enough time to get Jong-Un prepared for his current position. Jong-Il had 20+ years of grooming and publicity to get everyone behind him, while Jong-Un has had little more than a year. He hasn't had enough time to gain a large clique of dependents, and there are many other powerful figures that will be jockeying for position with him. I think it is very likely that there will be a power struggle of some kind, and the consequences of that could be very unpredictable, ranging from liberalization and opening up to attacks on South Korea and possibly even war. It'll be tense time on the peninsula for the next year or longer.

[gaelic cowboy]

This Kim seems like a good Un. Unlike the last guy, who was constantly Il.

you mean IR right


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oShTJ90fC34





More seriously, I'm concerned. I've read a fair amount about North Korea over the last couple years (this book (http://www.amazon.com/Under-Loving-Care-Fatherly-Leader/dp/0312322216) comes highly recommended) and it seems like there wasn't remotely enough time to get Jong-Un prepared for his current position. Jong-Il had 20+ years of grooming and publicity to get everyone behind him, while Jong-Un has had little more than a year. He hasn't had enough time to gain a large clique of dependents, and there are many other powerful figures that will be jockeying for position with him. I think it is very likely that there will be a power struggle of some kind, and the consequences of that could be very unpredictable, ranging from liberalization and opening up to attacks on South Korea and possibly even war. It'll be tense time on the peninsula for the next year or longer.


The problem is Jong Il disinheriting of his older sons suchs as that fella who got caught trying to sneak into Tokyo Disney in favour of Jong Un. I expect there will be a few years internal struggle now and it's not 100% Jong Un will rule the roost.

[Furunculus]

Was this new Kim-Rong-Un chap likewise born on a mountain as a living incarnation of the great god Starcraft?

You need outrageous actions-per-minute to be able to consistently play 38 under-par on a Hennessy binge!

[InsaneApache]

Any one know what his lowest golf score is?

LOL

I heard he's got a ZX Spectrum as well!

[Hosakawa Tito]

There's no reason to think anything will change. The few ruling elite in that nation still live in what we consider to be rather poor conditions, for people their power. It's a lot like the book 1984, where they say that bit about lowering the standard of the world, so that what was left would be easier for the ruling class to appreciate. The people of that nation are brainwashed, half a century of quite literal brainwashing and isolation.

There's no way that any son of the leader responsible for some of the more awful development's in North Korea's history is going to all of a sudden be any better, especially when the situation is ripe for him to do exactly what his dad did.

Unlike his father he hasn't had much time to build a base of supporters within the military ruling elite. So to prove himself and his ability to protect the status quo he may well act even worse than dear old dad. It wouldn't be a shock to see NK create a crisis with SK or Japan to rally support.

[rvg]

Does the new God-King have any cool supernatural powers attributed to him?

[lars573]

An article on the new ruling status quo in the North. And the junta that Kim Jong-Un will be the leader of. Unsurprising to note that China is very eager to prop-up the Kim dynasty's rule.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/exclusive-n-korea-military-backs-kim-heir-share-065017037.html

BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea will shift to collective rule from a strongman dictatorship after last week's death of Kim Jong-il, although his untested young son will be at the head of the ruling coterie, a source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said.

The source added that the military, which is trying to develop a nuclear arsenal, has pledged allegiance to the untested Kim Jong-un, who takes over the family dynasty that has ruled North Korea since it was founded after World War Two.

The source declined to be identified but has correctly predicted events in the past, telling Reuters about the North's first nuclear test in 2006 before it took place.

The comments are the first signal that North Korea is following a course that many analysts have anticipated -- it will be governed by a group of people for the first time since it was founded in 1948.

Both Kim Jong-il and his father Kim Il-sung were all-powerful, authoritarian rulers of the isolated state.

The situation in North Korea appeared stable after the military gave its backing to Kim Jong-un, the source said.

"It's very unlikely," the source said when asked about the possibility of a military coup. "The military has pledged allegiance to Kim Jong-un."

North Korea's collective leadership will include Kim Jong-un, his uncle and the military, the source said.

Jang Song-thaek, 65, brother-in-law of Kim Jong-il and the younger Kim's uncle, is seen as the power behind the throne along with his wife Kim Kyong-hui, Kim Jong-il's sister. So too is Ri Yong-ho, the rising star of the North's military and currently its most senior general.

The younger Kim, who is in his late 20s, has his own supporters but is not strong enough to consolidate power, analysts said.

"I know that he's been able to build a group of supporters around himself who are of his generation," said Koh Yu-hwan, president of the Korean Association of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

"So it is not entirely elders in their 70s, plus some like Jang in their 60s, who are backing him. These young backers will be emerging fairly soon."

Koh said the coterie was put in place by Kim Jong-il before he died. "The relative calm seen these few days shows it's been effective. If things were not running smoothly, then we'd have seen a longer period of 'rule by mummy', with Kim Jong-il being faked as still being alive."

He said the younger Kim would accept the set-up, for now. "Considering the tradition of strongarm rule by his father and grandfather, things can't be easy for him," he said.

"REGIME SURVIVAL"

Ralph Cossa, an authority on North Korea and president of the U.S. think tank Pacific Forum CSIS, said it made sense that the ruling group would stick together.

"All have a vested interest in regime survival," he said. "Their own personal safety and survival is inextricably tied to regime survival and Kim Jong-un is the manifestation of this. I think the regime will remain stable, at least in the near-term."

He added in a commentary that the new group may be inclined to reform, but stressed this was far from confirmed.

"Over the long term, there appears to be some hope, primarily emanating from Beijing, that Kim Jong-un will take North Korea down the path of Chinese-style reform, apparently based on the belief that Jang is or will be a 'reformer'."

"Who knows, this may be true. While this could relieve the suffering of the North Korean people over time, it will do little to promote the cause of denuclearization, however."

The high-level source also said North Korea test-fired a missile on Monday to warn the United States not to make any moves against it. Pyongyang however had no immediate plans for further tests, barring an escalation of tensions.

"With the missile test, (North) Korea wanted to deliver the message that they have the ability to protect themselves," the source said.

"But (North) Korea is unlikely to conduct a nuclear test in the near future unless provoked" by the United States and South Korea, the source said.

The unpredictable North's nuclear program has been a nagging source of tension for the international community.

Pyongyang carried out nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, and has quit six-party talks with South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia on abandoning its nuclear program and returning to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The high-level source also said Beijing was only notified of Kim's death earlier on Monday, the same day North Korean state television broadcast the news. Kim died on Saturday.

A leading South Korean newspaper reported on Wednesday China learned of Kim's death soon after it occurred.

China has given no official comment or even hints suggesting it was told of Kim's death before the public announcement.

Beijing, the North's closest ally and biggest provider of aid, has pulled out the stops to support the younger Kim.

The government has invited him to visit and, in an unusual gesture, President Hu Jintao and Vice-President Xi Jinping also visited the hermit state's embassy in Beijing to express their condolences. Roads leading to the embassy were blocked.

Mainly, the prospect of instability on its northeastern border worries China and it sees the younger Kim and his coterie as the best prospect for keeping North Korea on an even keel.

North Korea has been pressed by China to denuclearize and is willing to do so on condition that North and South Korea, the United States and China sign an armistice replacing a 1953 ceasefire agreement, the source said.

The two Koreas have been divided for decades and remain technically at war since their 1950-53 conflict ended with an armistice but no peace agreement. The United States backed the South, while China supported the North in that conflict.

Pyongyang is also convinced there are U.S. nuclear weapons in South Korea and demands Washington pull them out, the source said.

(Additional reporting by Jack Kim in Seoul; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Jonathan Thatcher)

[Fragony]

All kthbye Kim Jong Un? Rumour has it that he was assasinated in China

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Apparently not: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2099691/Kim-Jong-Un-NOT-dead-Assassination-rumours-hoax-say-U-S-officials.html


I find these amusing:

http://www.dailydawdle.com/2012/02/kim-jong-un-really-really-wants-cake-7.html