'The Great Successor' (There is no guarantee the North Korean military will accept the successor)

Wall Street Journal ^ | 12/20/2011 | John Bolton

[SeekAndFind]

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il's death opens a period of intense danger and risk, but also potentially enormous opportunity for America and its allies. Kim's health had obviously been poor for some time, and his regime has worked to ensure an orderly transition to his son, Kim Jong Eun. The Kim family and its supporters, with everything obviously at stake, will work strenuously to convey stability and control. Indeed, the official North Korea news agency has already referred to Jong Eun as "the great successor to the revolutionary cause."

But the loathsome Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) is not a constitutional monarchy like Britain. While DPRK founder Kim Il Sung was powerful enough to impose his son, no guarantees exist that the North's military, the real power, will meekly accept rule by his utterly inexperienced grandson.

Under the surface in Pyongyang, the maneuvering has almost certainly already begun. There is no reason whatever to believe that opinion among the military leadership will be unanimous, either to support or oppose the regime's succession plan. In fact, the early reports are that Kim Jong Il's death went undisclosed publicly for days, perhaps indicating a power struggle already under way. Many generals may simply not accept that Leader 3.0 is competent or merits their support.

While an authoritarian DPRK state, armed with nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, is a threat regionally and globally, a fractured DPRK, leaderless and perhaps descending into civil war, is an even greater threat. The prospect of conflict among various military and other security forces, which like the Kim family also have everything on the line, is real. Control over the weapons of mass destruction and other key assets (missile launch sites and storage facilities, communications facilities, the loyalty of major military formations) will be essential.

[Leep]

One definition of Politics is The Ugly Game of Power. The NorKors have definitely cornered the market on ugly.

[TSgt]

[hummingbird]

Oh, boy - anyway you look at it - with all that weaponry I would imagine it might turn out to be like when USSR became Russia.

Weapons will probably wind up in hands willing to pay. And we will have no receipts to find who does what.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: And we will have no receipts to find who does what.

Tell me about it, we can’t even track the weapons WE SELL ( see Fast and Furious ).

[AU72]

Kim Jong Eun might a good pick in Howie Carr’s next Death Pool.

[bert]

I’ve looked for a photo but can’t find it. There is a little (short, thin) old guy that typically had medals literally down to his knees. He is often pictured with the dead Kim.

He is powerful, (has the most medals) and is frequently there, close by, to the right and behind.

[woodenickel]

I don’t know Hunglow or what ever his name is, looks like one pissed-off little dude

[DPMD]

General HighKnees?

Sorry.

But while we’re on the subject of the NK military, how do I get one of those balloon hats the officers all wear? I already have the Bozo hair, floppy shoes and red nose, and need to complete the set.

[Boogieman]

This guy?

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il (2nd L), accompanied by Korean People's Army (KPA) General Political Department Director Jo Myong Rok (L)... Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Photos+Jong+died/5880009/story.html#ixzz1h6s3B5uN

[bert]

yep...he’s the One