This reminds me of that scene in "Kelly's Heroes" in which they confront the German tank commander with the question:
"Do you know what is in that bank?"
"Gold."
Posted on 06/12/2018 9:04:48 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
It looks as though President Trump won over Kim Jong-un in Singapore, but now Kim has to sell the deal to the Pyongyang power elite. The stick of a threat of “fire and fury” (meaning the military destruction of the regime) and the carrot of wealth – like that of glittering Singapore, where Kim took the opportunity for sightseeing, including a lavish casino run the Sheldon Adelson’s Sands corporation -- certainly worked on the dictator.
At his press conference, President Trump mentioned that he had shown a video to Kim illustrating the wealth that could lie ahead for Kim and his regime with an opening to the world. He also showed off his limousine, known as The Beast, apparently impressing him with its massiveness. Kim Jong-un clearly loves the boy toys of modernity.
I have long believed that the fact that Kim spent his formative years in a Swiss boarding school was a huge opportunity, for the rest of the North Korean elite has no such exposure to the West. But in order for this deal to move forward and realize its potential, Kim is going to have to convince the rest of the Pyongyang power elite to go along, and risk destruction of their nuclear security blanket and some degree of openness to the international world, including intrusive inspection visits and trade. The people who command military and police units (some of whom have been replaced with KJU loyalists),those who control key state enterprises, and those who are able to supply bribes – luxury goods from the West, mainly, but also food – must go along, or else, as my colleague Rick Moran put it this morning, “Don't be surprised if Kim doesn’t wake up one morning.”
The North Korean regime is best understood as a gangster operation,
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
If I understand, the military has a bit of clout there. So minimising that tension between the two is probably his biggest concern.
Hopefully Kim learned a valuable lesson from Trump—how to sell new ideas to people not used to hearing them.
I don’t think they have gun control, would be one reason.
Didn’t Kim just ‘fire’ some military leaders before the summit?
Yes but Kim has been busy firing generals and replacing them with his hand picked choices.
He has only kept his clout by eliminating the opposition.
The Roman Emperors had, in theory, total power. And were regularly deposed by their own generals.
Indira Ghandi, Prime Minister of India, was assassinated by her own bodyguards
“...Kim has to sell the deal...”
You get more cooperation with a smile and a gun than with just a smile.
Buy or die!
The media is up to their tricks again. Korea is a dictatorship. He has to ‘splain to his army that they might actually have food every day.
This reminds me of that scene in "Kelly's Heroes" in which they confront the German tank commander with the question:
"Do you know what is in that bank?"
"Gold."
As in "You can vote for this deal or I can feed you to the dogs. Which will it be?"
IMO, the crux of a transformation for Kim et al will be how they continue to live in North Korea and avoid being prosecuted for human rights violations once the country is freed from their tyranny.
Sell it to them or shoot those not on board already with AA guns.
[[but now Kim has to sell the deal to the Pyongyang power elite.]]
Kim murders his own family when they get in his way- Kim isn’t going to have to sell anything- He’s going to state how things are and the ‘powerful elite’ will clap in approval
I’d say there’s a better than 0.5 probability the DPRK generals bust a cap in his fat @as.
I wonder if Kim has already killed off the generals that he knew would be opposed.
Tin pot dictators are always propped up by the REAL leaders in a dictatorship, the way the Mullahs really run Iran, while the Supreme Leader is the figure head. I am not saying Jong Un has no power, but he only has power because the ruling elite bestow it upon him. If he were to oppose them, he would be gone in a minute. This is how most dictatorships work. Occassionally a charismatic dictator draws power from his influence alone, like Napoleon, but that is exceedingly rare.
I wonder how we would have felt immediately after Munich 1938, without the benefit of hindsight. Would we have cheered Chamberlain?
I don’t quite know yet what to think about this, I’m taking more of a ‘wait and see’ approach, but I am cautiously optimistic.
Sell what to who? His sales pitch is "Do what I want or you will have a date with an anti-aircraft gun or a pack of starving dogs."
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