Tag Archives: South Korea

Apr 1 2013

Kim Jong-un is talking to his citizens, not the USA.

This post contains mostly commentary and speculation.

More and more, I’m becoming convinced that North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un is not talking to the United States or to South Korea.  He’s speaking to his own people.

One thing Kim Jong-un lacked was the cult of personality his father had.  Indeed, for a number of years after the death of the “Eternal President” Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-Il was absent from the media for several years, making no appearances his first years in office as the dictator of North Korea.

However, almost  immediately after his “coming out party” in North Korea, no doubt to get him cemented into the North Korean People‘s ethos of acceptable leaders — Kim Jong-un has been all over the media.  Was this a panicked attempt to cement his image into the minds of North Koreans, knowing their ailing Supreme Leader‘s time on Earth was borrowed time?  Or was this part of a plan already in motion to get him in the public eye, and the elder Kim’s demise shortly after was just coincidence?

Because he has both a lack of military experience, save his rank of Wonsu (Marshal or “Generalissimo” ) in the [North] Korean People’s Army that he was gifted by his father the year before his demise, and a lack of time in an actual government position, his acceptability by the people I think is a major concern.

Back to the original point, I’m thinking more and more this is the younger Kim’s attempt to call a “Rally Around The Flag.”  While I’ve always compared the nation of North Korea to the state-equivalent of a paranoid-schizophrenic; and while Kim Jong-un’s lack of experience with the United States and the outside world first-hand that his Father and Father before him had concerns me — the more I hear, the more I’m convinced he isn’t talking to South Korea…  or the USA.  He’s talking to his people.  He’s trying to get North Korea to not only accept him, but be “with” him.

Does he, in his ignorance, know the level of “most dangerous game” he’s playing?

Related articles
Mar 31 2013

Can North Korea cripple the South’s economy — without firing a single shot?

CIMG9896

Nearly a decade ago, the two Koreas came together to agree on a jointly-run special manufacturing zone that sits a few kilometers inside North Korea — the Kaesong Industrial Complex.

This state-level “joint venture” if you will, has become an important fixture in the economies of both Koreas.  According to the Wall Street Journal, over 120 companies employ over 50,000 North Korean citizens to work in their industrial and manufacturing plans.

The brainchild of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korea’s recently-departed Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Il, the two came together in 2000 to work the plan out for it’s implementation — and it opened for business in 2004.

English: Area map of Kaesong Industrial Region...

Kaesong Industrial Region, North Korea (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With the last North-South line of communication “cut” according to the North Korean military, could the complex that employs tens of thousands of North Koreans, pumping much needed capital into the isolated Stalinist-state; and provides massive amounts of product to South Korea — could this cripple the South Korean economy?

As of this week, traffic in and out of Kaesong is status-quo.  It’s business as usual.

North Korea’s nascent Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un has threatened to close the industrial complex, threatening economic input for South Korea.  Is the North willing to put desperately needed cash at risk to send a message to the South — or is this the usual dose of saber-rattling rhetoric meant to cement the new “Dear Leader” in the hearts of his people?

Related articles