N. Korea: Kim Jong Un Is No Reformer

Foreign Policy ^ | 08/21/12 | VICTOR D. CHA

[TigerLikesRooster]

Kim Jong Un Is No Reformer

North Korea's new leader studied in Switzerland and has a young, attractive wife. That doesn't mean he's into the whole hope and change thing.

BY VICTOR D. CHA |AUGUST 21, 2012

For those searching for signs of reform in North Korea, Kim Jong Un has been a godsend. Women on North Korean state TV wore high heels and miniskirts while he sat in the audience. Disney characters, the cultural export of a country North Korea has long demonized, danced onstage. The not-yet-30-year-old Kim, since taking over from father in December 2011, frolicked with school children and was photographed on a rollercoaster with a British diplomat, signaling a level of international openness never seen under the stern Kim Jong Il. He found a pretty wife, Ri Sol Ju, whom the New York Times equated with Britain's Kate Middleton. In a sign of changing times, the new first lady has even been photographed with her husband -- significant because Kim Jong Il was never seen with his spouse -- sporting a Christian Dior purse worth more than the annual wage of a North Korean worker.

/snip

Let me be blunt: The North Korean regime will not change because Little Kim studied in Switzerland, likes Mickey Mouse, and has a hot wife. If anything, another crisis could be looming: The death of Kim Jong Il and the politics of an unstable leadership transition, a new "get-tough" attitude in Seoul, and U.S. and South Korean electoral cycles constitute a unique confluence of escalation that has not been seen on the peninsula since the 1990s. This could spell another nuclear crisis with North Korea, or even worse, military hostilities that could threaten the peace and prosperity of the region.

[TigerLikesRooster]

P!

[Mister Da]

It's pretty clear the fat little Un boy in not in charge in NK. Roller-coasters & Disney characters are children's toys. Surely a child is not making military & diplomatic decisions.

No, he is a little puppet being humored by his masters.

Which means NK has not changed politically & we can expect nothing more from this rotting country than in the past - ridiculous lies, counterfeit dollars, & minor sneak attacks.

The best way to deal with these people is to NOT deal with them. Let them rot & starve.

[buffaloguy]

Wait a bit....

Kim has very complicated situation that he has to work through. Let’s see what happens.

[Bon mots]

The Most Horrible Picture of The Week

Take a look at the sheer fear on the faces of these women who were assembled for a 'homey' photo
with the North Korean dictator. They are clearly terrified for themselves and their children.
The grinning midget idiots who run that hellhole can zip them off to a concentration camp at their merest whim.