Word: kim
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...Kim is indeed incapacitated, dying or already dead, what might that that mean for Korean Peninsula, for 60 years now one of the most heavily militarized neighborhoods on the planet? Analysts and government sources insist his demise is unlikely to mean the collapse of the North Korean regime, at least in the short run - something which the North's two closest neighbors most emphatically do not want to see. As the analysts at the Control Risks Group say, "the regime's brutal authoritarianism may be repugnant, but its unraveling would raise questions the North's neighbors would much rather postpone...
...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 as the new leader. Speculation often centers on one of his three sons, the favorite being the Swiss-educated, alleged Eric Clapton fan, 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 late...
...This is good news because Kim and his generals agree on the key policy 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, 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. "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 family dynasty has been a singularly cruel place...