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Friday, April 10, 2009

Between cronyism and cryonics : enter Jang Song-taek

KIM Jong-il's brother in law JANG Song-taek seems back into grace in the cryptic world of North Korean politics* as the only option for the ailing leader as a chaperon for his designated successor KIM Jong-un. While JANG secures his chances as the de facto ruler in case of vacancy, the dictator's son is to be toughened up at the National Defense Commission, where he shall gain a few medals to highlight a more than blank profile.

Anyway, the NK monolith appears to be more than fissured with only a minority longing for a progressive reconciliation towards reunification with the South (the aim of KIM Dae-jung's "Rainbow Policy" game, interrupted by LEE Myung-bak) :
- the diehard "Juche" faction sticks to the KIM Dynasty and independence, its only program being "no regime change"
- the diehard "resistance" seeks an immediate collapse of the regime, regardless of the social, economical, or political consequences
- and as usual, the "China collaborators" lobby keeps working on a progressive Hanschluss by the 'friendly' neighbor.

Seoul Village 2009

* ie "Steps Being Taken to Facilitate NK Power Shift" (dong-A Ilbo 20090408), North Korean leader Kim anoints new No. 2: analysts (Reuters 20090410)

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