Word: kim
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...like dictators everywhere, Kim has made certain that the country's senior military officers are on his side. They have profited from the country's extensive illicit businesses (narcotics, weapons, pirated cigarettes and pharmaceuticals) and hold powerful government posts. No one knows who will emerge to replace Kim. Speculation often centers on one of his three sons, the favorite being the Swiss-educated Kim Jong Chul (though in a memoir published last year, Kim's former sushi chef, a Japanese citizen with the pseudonym Kenji Fujimoto, says Jong Chul, who is in his mid-20s, is out because his father...
...This is good news, of a sort, because Kim and his generals agree on the key issue that concerns the outside world: the North's nuclear weapons. Whether you believe that Pyongyang is making a good-faith effort to close out its nukes - as the U.S. State Department does - or is manipulating America and its allies for economic aid, Pyongyang is unlikely to change course...
...news is that North Korea is again struggling with food shortages and possible famine, a problem that could worsen if Kim is debilitated. "When it comes to allocation of resources, Kim is the one who decides," says Cheong Seong Chang, director of Inter-Korean Relations Studies at the Sejong Institute near Seoul. "Now, different players may try to grab a bigger piece of the limited resources." The ironic result: without Kim, "the food situation for the North Korean people will get worse, heightening the crisis from within...
...safe bet for an analyst trying to predict outcomes using limited information is to assume the status quo will prevail. But sometimes history can veer off the beaten path in cruel ways. The possibility that Kim Jong Il's death could make things worse for the benighted North Koreans is unpleasant to contemplate. Then again, North Korea under the Kim dynasty has been a singularly cruel place...
...North Korea Dear Leader in Decline? After Kim Jong Il failed to attend a parade marking the country's 60th anniversary, rumors began circulating that the secretive North Korean leader's health was deteriorating. State media have not reported a public appearance by Kim since Aug. 14, though Western intelligence officials say the 66-year-old dictator has manipulated such reports before. White House officials could not confirm the rumors but said they are monitoring the "opaque" nation amid stalled talks over its nuclear program. The Dear Leader assumed power in 1994 after the death of his father, North Korea...