Posted on 09/17/2010 9:14:28 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Diagnosing What Ails North Korea's Kim Jong Il
Delay of Country's Congress Renews Question: Is Kim Jong Ill?
By JOOHEE CHO
SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 15, 2010
North Korea abruptly postponed today what was billed as the country's largest political convention in 30 years, renewing speculation that the secretive country's supreme leader Kim Jong Il may be too sick -- possibly with diabetes -- to dominate the convention.
Experts have widely speculated that the meeting would be a way for Kim to promote his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, as his heir apparent.
But Good Friends, a welfare group based in Seoul, says the delegates from all over the nation are heading back to their hometowns after the convention was postponed "due to floods" and "due to lack of quorum."
The group, quoting a representative in Pyongyang who was waiting for the meeting to convene, said many participants could not travel to the convention "because the roads were disconnected by Typhoon Kompasu," which hit the nation on Sept. 2.
As if to back up the speculation, Pyongyang's official state media reported today that dozens of people were killed, 8,000 homes damaged, communications cut off, and railroads disconnected by the typhoon.
But most North Korean watchers in Seoul believe the real reason for the delay is either because the senior communist party officials could not reach an agreement regarding the role of heir apparent Kim Jong Un, or because Kim Jong Il's health is seriously deteriorating.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Well, if I use mathematical jargon I can say that the North Korean dictatorship is isomorphic to a religious dictatorship, another isomorphic system is communism. The main similarity is that they already have answers to everything in their “book” and are unable to evolve.
Maybe someone could start a new thread on this one.
We were watching that until that stupid young woman made that statement about 'our beloved allah wants us to cover ourselves' - and then I turned if off.
Do you mean: “ISOMORPHISM - (biology) similarity or identity of form or shape or structure”? Yup, I can see what you mean.
Although, despite what non-muslims think, almost all muslims believe that the answers in “their book” & the source is a much higher being (Allah) & one has to submit in Islam by faith. Whereas the Commies accept that their manifesto was written by a mere mortal, no matter how much that mere mortal is put on a pedestal.
Thanks for the link, it seems it is only a promo link at the moment.
>>>”our beloved allah wants us to cover ourselves”
Most of the muslim participants really annoyed me (except that Lebanese born woman who was arguing against it). But, I think it gives further insight into their arguments about why they want to wear the burqa. I guess we should expect this sort of thing when we let them immigrate here & get others to convert.
I see, thanks.
Btw, that burqa debate is now online per links in posts 39 & 42.
They are not using the same phrases in Korean,
http://kcna.co.jp/calendar/2010/09/09-21/2010-0921-001.html
but that might be culturally dependant:
English: all the servicepersons and people are single-mindedly united around the headquarters of the revolution headed by Kim Jong Il.
Korean: here they are “ten million single-mindedly united”
dependant=> dependent
The tree is good not only in acquiring feed materials for stockbreeding and fish farming but in garbing the country in green.
1.4-6 tons of fruits can be harvested from a hectare with 200 trees. They amount to 1-4.2 tons of beans in terms of crude protein.
http://kcna.co.jp/item/2010/201009/news20/20100920-10ee.html
In addition to heavy dialysis, he has to take some kind of stimulant to boost his physical outlook, at least for a few hours.
The more frequent he has to show up at public gathering for extended period of time, the worse his health becomes. If he drinks or smoke a lot at these gatherings, it is even better (for us.) Everytime I hear Kim Jong-il drink hard liquor or drink for hours, I tend to smile because the guy is lopping off months or even a year off his life when he does that.
5 key people to watch in North Korea
starting with Gen. Kim Kyok-sik,Kim Jong-un, Kim Kyong-hui, Jang Song-thaek and General O Kuk-ryol
Only on FR can I get this great analysis. I’d like to thank you both.
Thanks odds!
North Korea said Tuesday it will hold its first extraordinary congress of the Workers Party in 44 years next Tuesday. It was originally set for early September. The last such party congress was held in 1966 and the purpose of the latest gathering is to elect its highest officials. On Thursday, North Korea announced a reshuffle of senior officials and appointed Kang Sok-ju, first vice minister of foreign affairs, as vice premier, while Kim Kye-gwan, the North's chief delegate to the six-party nuclear talks, was named to fill Kang’s slot at the Foreign Ministry. Ri Yong-ho, Kim's deputy in the nuclear talks, was appointed vice foreign minister to replace Kim.
According to the regulations, the party is supposed to meet every five years to decide on policies, and the extraordinary congress is held in the event of emergencies between regular party meetings. But the North has not convened a party meeting since 1980 and then abruptly announced the planned congress, only to postpone it by two weeks. It has yet to explain the reason for the delay. Just like other communist countries, North Korea is guided, in principle, by the communist party, but the party became only a titular leadership since the 1990s, when Kim Jong-il established the military as its prime governing mechanism. In April last year, it tweaked its constitution to hail the “Songun” or military-first doctrine as its leading ideology along with the “Juche” or self-reliance policy.
With the party congress announced, international attention has focused on whether the process will herald the beginning of Kim Jong-il’s third son Jong-un’s rise to power. Kim Jong-il began his ascent to power in 1964 when he became a party member at the age of 32 and rose through the ranks until he was officially appointed successor to the throne in 1974. There is a strong possibility that the party will serve as the conduit for Jong-un’s succession too.
But no one outside the regime can be sure in making such predictions. South Korea, the U.S. and Japan are all at a loss when it comes to the reason for the delay in the party congress. Radio Free Asia reported recently that Kim Jong-il dozes off several times a day for five minutes at a time and that his health problems caused the delay. Yet it is difficult to determine exactly what is happening in North Korea. Some are saying that the promotion of Kang Sok-ju and other officials in charge of dealing with the U.S. suggests North Korea's intention to change its focus from demonstrations of military power to dialogue and diplomacy. But that is also just a guess. Kang had served as first vice minister of foreign affairs for the last 24 years and had apparently served as Kim Jong-il’s confidant on diplomatic issues, so it seems unlikely that Kang’s appointment as vice premier of the cabinet at the age of 71 would change his role and signify a shift in North Korea's diplomatic policies.
It seems clear that North Korea's leadership is undergoing major changes due to Kim Jong-il’s age and failing health. Accurate intelligence is crucial, especially at times like this, and Seoul needs better realistic measures to deal with the regime; thus it urgently needs to reassess its intelligence-gathering, analysis and policy-making capabilities and strengthen areas that are deficient.
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/09/24/2010092400908.html
Comment: Not only Seoul.
N. Korean regime must leak disinfo to obscure outsiders from getting to real picture of what goes on inside the regime. One the other hand, it is very paranoid about any real inside info leaking to outsiders.
S. Korean media are picking up all of them. Their reporting is a mixture of noise, disinfo, and credible information. I am sure some info is kept closely under wraps by intel agency. Media won't be aware of it. That is normal. On the other hand, those in S. Korea air out some credible information they picked up from their own sources. They may even have a blessing from or actively helped by intel agency. If they care only about safe and secure intel gathering, they won't do it. However, publicizing such info, while trying to minimize damage to their source, is a way of psyop. It is like saying that we know what you, Kim Jong-il, are up to. This sows more suspicion and paranoid in Kim Jong-il's mind. If they get more and more paranoid about moles and leaks, information flow inside the regime would be choked off. This would damage the effectiveness of governing. Daily problems to be addressed would be piling up faster than they can deal with it. The regime will start to show signs of chronic paralysis.
This is like an operation Allies did in the run up to Operation Iraqi Freedom
Several years ago, Hwang Jang-yop, the highest ranking N. Korean defector now residing in Seoul, kept mentioning Jang Sung-taek as the most likely successor to Kim Jong-il. Jang has quite a clique of his own back then. He said it at every chance he can get. Kim Jong-il is known to monitor S. Korean media in person via Internet, especially when it comes to N. Korea related issues. After a while, Kim Jong-il did can Jang Sung-taek. He disbanded Jang's clique and Jang was sent for remedial education(reeducation light: no hard labor and torture.) Hwang's non-stop publicity campaign yielded a tangible result. Although there is no way for me to tell if it was intentional for Hwang's part, I suspect that it was his goal. Hwang can exploit Kim's paranoia to his advantage. He would know how to push Kim's button remotely from Seoul.
It is my opinion that some prominent news outlets operated by N. Korean defectors are doing it to rattle the regime. This is more than reporting regime's oppression. They are trying to tell Kim Jong-il that the regime leaks everywhere and it is getting out of control. Since Kim Jong-il is very paranoid about inside secrets, it does not take much to get under his skin.
Hans Blix is breaking his balls.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.