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Kim Jong Un's Shoes (Why South Koreans aren't terribly worried about the current round of threats)
American Thinker ^ | 04/12/2013 | Thomas Lifson

Posted on 04/12/2013 6:58:25 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

If you can mentally put yourself in Kim Jong-un's shoes, once you are aware of the constraints he faces you will understand why the South Koreans aren't getting terribly worried about how the current round of threats will end. Far from being crazy, KJU is acting rationally for someone in his position, and he's likely to get what he wants without South Korea or the world erupting into a sea of fire.

The first fact of life for young Kim is that he really isn't running things. He is unable to command and be obeyed on his own because he is too young and lacks a depth of history with all the key constituencies that make up the North Korean regime. We're talking about something much closer to a gangster alliance than a constitutional state when it comes to understanding the dynamics of the North Korean government.

Generals and party appartchiks as power centers abound, each in control of some vital resource, be they guns, sources of revenue (for example the prized counterfeiting and drug operations that bring in covert hard currency), or mass organizations. The people who run these operations must be appeased, bought off, made to keep identifying their own welfare with the continued power of the Kim Dynasty.

KJU, who was thrust into office, has no history of dealing with these party and military satraps the way his late father did - a mixture of lavish banquets and bribes, especially Western luxury goods from fine cognac to Mercedes Benzes, and harsher measures, up to purging and execution. Kim Jong Un's aunt, Kim Kyong-hu, and her husband, Jang Song-taek, are operating as de facto regents for an heir unable to handle the responsibilities of office.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: kimjongun; northkorea; southkorea

1 posted on 04/12/2013 6:58:25 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

The South Koreans know the Chinese have the Norks on a leash.


2 posted on 04/12/2013 6:59:51 AM PDT by fso301
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To: SeekAndFind
Obama’s weakness has brought on this tantrum.
3 posted on 04/12/2013 7:03:18 AM PDT by mountainlion (Live well for those that did not make it back.)
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To: fso301

No, the South Koreans know they aren’t the target this time.

Pretty simple.


4 posted on 04/12/2013 7:13:23 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: SeekAndFind

The guy i actually more Swiss than Korean. He spent most of his life in a posh and pampered boarding school there.


5 posted on 04/12/2013 8:21:26 AM PDT by DManA
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To: SeekAndFind

Obama, why not go to China and have Kim play a round of Golf with you along with that 14 year old chinese kid who is in the Masters and Tiger Woods?


6 posted on 04/12/2013 8:26:02 AM PDT by ExCTCitizen
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To: ExCTCitizen

RE: Obama, why not go to China and have Kim play a round of Golf with you

The kid is a basketball fan.

If Obozo can bring Michael Jordan with him ( along with his championship bulls ), and let Dennis Rodman do the talking, maybe that’ll calm things down.


7 posted on 04/12/2013 8:29:32 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind
The dangerousness of a nation's military is inversely proportional to the number of medals their generals wear on parade.


8 posted on 04/12/2013 4:48:57 PM PDT by TXnMA ("Allah": Satan's current alias... "Barack": Allah's current ally...)
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