SEOUL — Just as North Koreans know little about their potential future leader, the rest of the world knows almost nothing about North Korean opinions.
Recent academic research, based on surveys with defectors, suggests that North Koreans are growing frustrated with a government that allowed widespread starvation in the early 1990s and orchestrated brutal currency reform in 2009 that was designed to wipe out the private markets that enable most residents to feed themselves.
Then why all the war talk, AmeriKa?
The NORTH KOREANS of all people are PRIVATIZING?
The defectors are motivated to emphasize the worst-case scenario in their homeland. There are some who think that Kim Jong Un will take power and gradually lead North Korea to Soviet-style reforms. Some defectors say that even though the younger Kim is largely unknown, they hope he will allow for a free economy after his father dies.
Still, in South Korea, an emerging patchwork of mini-samples suggests that many North Koreans view their government as a failed anachronism, and they see the young general, as he is called, as a sign of the status quo.
The FEELING is WORLDWIDE, folks!! GOVERNMENTS SUCK!
They associate Kim Jong Un with the December 2009 currency revaluation. They don’t know his age — he’s thought to be in his late 20s — but they think he’s too young to be anything more than a figurehead.
Aren't they all?
Sohn Kwang Joo, chief editor of the Daily NK, a Seoul-based publication focusing on North Korea, receives frequent reports from stringers in four North Korean provinces. Those ground-level reporters, gathering information mostly from intellectuals, farmers, and laborers, suggest to Sohn that “8 or 9 out of every 10 people are critical of Kim Jong Un.’’
I didn't know North Korea had bloggers.
***********
A defector-based survey released in March, co-written by North Korea experts Marcus Noland and Stephan Haggard, provided the first sharp indication of growing discontent with Kim Jong Il’s regime, linked in large part to an information seal that no longer keeps everything out.
Come on, you are breaking the old man's heart -- and the AmeriKan corporate media's, too!
North Koreans have access to South Korean television shows. Some travel to China for business.
For now, though, analysts and US officials see little likelihood that North Koreans’ closely guarded skepticism about their government will pose a threat to the government.
These the same analysts who are wrong about damn near anything and are scared to death of an awakened America (ha!) here?
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And if it is all the same to you, readers, I would rather not obsess and regurgitate at the old guy's bedside.
"Kim may pave way for son’s leadership at N. Korea convention; Ruling party has set date for crucial gathering" by Hyung-Jin Kim, Associated Press | September 22, 2010
SEOUL — North Korea’s ruling communist party has finally set a date for its biggest convention in decades, an apparent indication that the regime may be ready to give the aging leader’s son a key position that will pave the way for his succession....
The conference will be the party’s first major gathering since the landmark 1980 congress where Kim Jong Il, then 38, made his political debut with an appearance that confirmed he was in line to succeed his father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, as his nation’s leader.
Kim Jong Il took control of North Korea when his father died of heart failure in 1994 in what was Communism’s first hereditary transfer of power. Now 68 and reportedly in poor health two years after a stroke, Kim is believed to be preparing his third and youngest son, Kim Jong Un, for a similar father-to-son power transition.
But as with most things related to the so-called Hermit Kingdom, nothing has been officially confirmed by North Korean officials. The regime is so secretive that outside observers often are left to read between the lines of vague state media dispatches and analyze satellite photos to divine what’s going on.
How dare the paper say that about AmeriKa and her newspa... per... zzzz...
Hey, that is what I AM DOING every time I pick up a Globe!
Analysts say Kim Jong Un may quietly be appointed to top party posts at next week’s convention in a key step in the succession process that will not be announced in state media....
Yesterday’s state media report gave no explanation for why the much-anticipated convention, initially set for early September, had been delayed.
For that implied slight and off-color comment?
Analysts believe that internal debate among the party elite over whether to publicize Kim Jong Un’s political appointment to the outside world, as well as concern about recent devastation from flooding and a deadly typhoon, probably prompted the regime to postpone the nation’s biggest political meeting in 30 years.
I want an EXPLANATION as to WHY that was KEPT out of my NEWSPAPER!!
See: North Korea's Flash Floods
Can't have the DEMONIC ENEMY SUFFERING ANY and putting a WHOLE in the STRAW MEN the agenda-pushing, war-promoting media waves at us!
Discussion over what economic reform the regime should announce during the party conference may also have contributed to the delay, said Kim Yong Hyun of Dongguk University.
Little is known about Kim Jong Un, said to be in his late 20s and schooled in Switzerland. He has never been mentioned in state media, and there are no confirmed photos of him as an adult.
He has two older brothers, Jong Nam and Jong Chol. But Kenji Fujimoto, who said he was Kim Jong Il’s sushi chef for more than 10 years, wrote in a memoir that it was the youngest who was most like his father, ruthless and competitive even as a child.
South Korean intelligence officers believe Pyongyang has launched a propaganda campaign promoting the son with songs and poems.
Wow, the GLASS-HOUSED AmeriKan media is really throwing the rocks around lately, huh?
He’s being hailed as the “Young General’’ and “Our Commander,’’ with soldiers and workers pledging allegiance to the son on his birthday in January, South Korean media have said, citing unidentified sources in North Korea.
What, in school every morning like I had to, sig heil?
The process is shrouded in secrecy, evidenced by the fact that South Korean officials didn’t even know how to spell the son’s name until last year.
Is that why he was not on the terror watch list and how he got through Israeli airport security to.... oh, I'm sorry. Corporate media always leaves me sooooo confused!
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"Promotion seen as sign in N. Korea; Youngest Kim son is likely successor" by Mark McDonald, New York Times | September 28, 2010
SEOUL — The youngest son of Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s reclusive leader, has been promoted to a military general, the Korean Central News Agency reported early today, the clearest sign yet that he is in line to succeed his father as the country’s leader....
The new roster of generals also included Kim Kyong Hui, the elder Kim’s sister. She is the wife of Jang Seong Taek, often regarded by outside analysts as the number-two man in the North and a potential caretaker for the government should Kim Jong Il, 68, who is in failing health, become incapacitated.
Translation: Trusted advisers will be looking after the boy.
The news came hours after delegates to a rare gathering of the ruling Workers’ Party arrived in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, yesterday as the party began final preparations for a meeting that could provide further signals about Kim Jong Un’s debut....
Little is known about Kim Jong Un, and most of what is has been culled from defectors and websites that collect information from sources in the North. In the North Korean media he has been referred to as the “Young General’’; “Youth Captain Kim’’; and even “CNC,’’ short for computer numerical control, to demonstrate his bona fides as a leader for the 21st century. He is said to have attended boarding or military school in Switzerland and spent several years in the military.
Korea analysts had long tapped his brother, Kim Jong Nam, 39, as the most likely heir, until he took an ill-fated trip to Tokyo Disneyland using a fake passport....
In a conservative Confucian society that reveres age, selling the public and, more important, the elite on a leader in his 20s is not easy.
It is the SAME in EVERY COUNTRY!
State-controlled media seem to be making a virtue of necessity....
Yeah, that's my newspaper!
Kim Jong Un has lately accompanied his father on factory tours and was said to have joined him on a recent trip to China.
Related: Kim Checks With China on Son's Succession
I guess they gave the okay.
The campaign may convince some of the people of his worthiness, analysts say, but it probably will have little impact on the elite, who will be testing his willingness to exercise power.
Some in the West, including Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, have ascribed the sinking of a South Korean warship by a North Korean torpedo attack in March to the succession struggle and Kim Jong Un’s efforts to establish credibility with the military brass.
Yeah, except that was a false flag attack carried out by an Israeli sub to keep the AmeriKan war machine in the region.
The U.S. is the ONLY ONE THAT LOSES with PEACE!
So CUI BONO from the ship sinking?!
Others, however, contend that the elite are quite comfortable with the idea of an inexperienced leader.
Why did Barack Obama and George Bush just flash into my mind? Wow!!
“I think he is chosen exactly because he is young,’’ said Andrei Lankov, a North Korean analyst at Kookmin University in Seoul, in an interview this month. “He will be a dictator but merely a rubber-stamping dictator. This is what the people in the positions of power want.’’
No matter what the society.
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So how is the old guy doing?
SEOUL — The youngest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was elected to his first leadership roles in the ruling Workers’ Party, state media said early today, putting him well on the path to succeed his father as leader of the nuclear-armed nation....
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"N. Korea gives glimpse of presumed heir; Photos viewed as bid to bolster succession plan" by Chico Harlan, Washington Post | October 1, 2010
TOKYO — North Korea’s state news agency released photographs of Kim Jong Un yesterday, revealing to the outside world the image of a man whose face hadn’t been seen in roughly 15 years....
What is he wearing to the prom?
Before the conference, North Korean media had never printed Kim Jong Un’s name. Despite a paparazzi-style chase among South Korean and Japanese media, nobody yet had uncovered a photo of Kim Jong Un as an adult.
I'm glad to see the media is working on such important things, aren't you?
Within the last two years, two Japanese media outlets thought they found photos of him. Turned out, they had photos of a middle-aged construction worker and a young factory manager.
Some Seoul-based analysts emphasized the significance of the released photo, in part because North Korea cares very much about the faces of its leaders....
What is all that make-up doing on my politicians face?
The dearth of earlier Kim Jong Un photos forced media outlets on the only thing they had: A confirmed photo of Jong Un, fleshy face at an angle, wearing a black turtleneck.
Analysts guess the photo shows him as a 12-year-old. He is now believed to be either 26 or 27.
Wanna finally see him, sigh?
Kim Jong Un (center) was named vice chairman of the Central Military Commission at the Workers’ Party conference this week. He was also given rank as a four-star general. (Krt via Reuters Tv)
There, you have seen him. Can we move on to something else please.
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Related: Globe Editorial North Korea: Don’t wait for new ruler
What are they saying, kill the old man now?
And BE PREPARED for ANOTHER FALSE FLAG and a WAR, young man!!
WASHINGTON — The United States and South Korea should be prepared for a crisis in North Korea when dictator Kim Jong Il leaves his post, South Korea’s defense chief said yesterday.
That is why the U.S. NEEDED ALL the MILITARY HARDWARE in the region: AFTER the NOVEMBER ELECTIONS it is GO TIME on IRAN! The AmeriKan empire needs to draw China away from helping Iran.
The expected transfer of power to Kim’s youngest son could have unpredictable consequences in the isolated nation, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said during a visit to the Pentagon.
Hey, you are getting straight from the lead forces of the empire herself.
“When Kim Jong Il’s health may deteriorate, or if there’s a movement of public opinion in North Korea, we cannot eliminate the possibility of there being an instability situation in North Korea’’ that would affect the security of the peninsula, Kim said through an interpreter.
He did not elaborate, but some specialists warn that the North could try to raise the prestige of its next leader by launching missiles or attacking South Korean targets.
Now that is INSANE and OUTRIGHT PROPAGANDA!
The OLD MAN wants a SMOOTH and HARMONIOUS HAND-OFF of the TORCH -- not a WAR for the BOY!!!
I am SO SICK of WAR PROPAGANDA passing itself off as NEWS REPORTS!
Others have said change at the top could trigger a military coup or a popular revolt.
That FIRST ONE is more OUR STYLE, and the SECOND ONE is ALWAYS WELCOME ANYWHERE (when legitimate and not some CIA-inspired coup)!!!
North Korea has maintained a tight grip on its people and economy over six decades, while it pursued nuclear and missile technology and repeatedly defied international demands to disarm.
Just wondering WHAT GOVERNMENT DOES NOT and HOW LONG THEY LASTED?
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who spoke with his South Korean counterpart, said it is not clear that the North’s current leader’s son, Kim Jong Un, would steer his country differently. In a joint statement after two days of talks, both the United States and South Korea said that they “will not accept North Korea as a nuclear weapons state.’’
Actually, I HAVE BAD NEWS for you, Bob: they ALREADY HAVE THEM and we ALREADY HAVE!!
Of course, he ACCEPTS ISRAEL without question!
There are signs of improving relations between the Koreas, including plans for reunions of families divided by the Korean War and talk of reviving a joint tourism venture.
And HERE the U.S. is TRYING to F*** IT ALL UP!!!!!!!!!
But the United States has deep concerns....
Well, WHO CARES!?
It is NONE of OUR BUSINESS!!!!
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And about that HELP I READ SO LITTLE ABOUT:
"Koreas plan family reunions; South’s desired location could be sticking point" by Kwang Tae Kim, Associated Press | September 18, 2010
SEOUL — North and South Korea agreed yesterday to hold reunions of families separated by their war, but conflicting statements from the rivals about the details underscored the difficulty of repairing relations on the peninsula....
So what U.S. stooge from South Korea was puppeteered into saying something?
SEOUL — South Korea said yesterday that it would send 5,000 tons of rice and other relief goods to victims of recent floods in North Korea, two days after the North proposed reunions of families separated by the Korean War.
What are you guys trying to do? Lower tensions or something?
Being a caring and compassionate neighbor instead of an AmeriKan tool?
The conciliatory gestures indicated that the two Koreas were testing ways of easing tensions that escalated after the sinking of a South Korean warship in March. The two had exchanged harsh language, with the South curtailing trade and staging military exercises while the North threatened retaliation.
I can LIVE with ONLY LANGUAGE being LOBBED!
Sticks and stones, right?
South Korea’s aid also includes 10,000 tons of cement, as well as instant noodles and medicine. It excludes heavy construction equipment that North Korea had requested but that the South fears could be used for military purposes....
U.S. must be mad.
An estimated 80,000 to 90,000 people were affected by the flooding and the 5,000 tons of rice can feed about 100,000 people for 100 days, the South Korean Red Cross said. The aid is expected to be delivered within a month.
In other conciliatory gestures toward Washington and Seoul, the North recently freed an imprisoned Boston man as well as the seven-member crew of a South Korean fishing boat.
How dare they act humanely when we are in the middle of kicking dirt all over 'em!
Aijalon Mahli Gomes, 31, of Boston, who had been teaching English in South Korea, spent seven months in a North Korean prison after being arrested in January on grounds of entering the country illegally.
What is the big deal? We toss illegals in the clink all the time here in AmeriKa.
He was freed last month during a visit to North Korea by President Jimmy Carter.
Related: Carter Couldn't Communicate With Kim
Those Koreans, they just don't want to listen to anybody.
The two Koreas took their conciliatory steps as Stephen W. Bosworth, Washington’s top envoy on North Korea, met South Korean officials in Seoul yesterday as part of a regional trip focused on restarting the deadlocked six-country talks on North Korea’s nuclear program....
Bosworth’s trip also was made amid uncertainty over whether North Korea has begun a rare Workers’ Party meeting believed aimed at giving a top party job to a son of leader Kim Jong Il. South Korean intelligence chief Won Sei-hoon yesterday said he expected the meeting to take place later this week....
Yeah, that is where the press went.
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Related:
"North and South Korea ended their first working-level military talks in two years yesterday with no progress."
I'm not disappointed because I never expected anything.
Also see: Group details human rights violations in N. Korea
I care more about sick and starving people and not any wedge we can use to wage war, sorry.
