So here’s a thought. What if Kim never had a stomach for all of this, including the gulags and other human rights abuses, but being the new Dear Leader is thrust into a situation where he has no option but to play the game because if he doesn’t his generals will take him out. So he’s been biding his time and making moves to eliminate those who would oppose him. So is he an evil dictator/murderer or has he only killed off those that would oppose this new change in direction and can take appropriate actions to stop all of the other madness that has been eating away at his country?
It’s similar to the old question/game that if you could go back in time and kill (name your dictator) except in this instance it may be a question of kill or be killed.
Just throwing it out there as time will tell all eventually.
I’ve had those same questions myself. Perhaps he’s been killing the people he knew would have been opposed to this, and now he felt safe enough to do it.
You are correct.
The point of the threats was to induce change in the status quo.
Trump played Kim’s game masterfully and the status quo was nudged off dead center.
However, “We’ll See”
Kims only been at this for 6 years......his chef, who he was close with finally defected and had much to say when he noticed Kim was not going to be like his father. It was two years in when Kim gave his speech to the koreans the econovic situation in the country was going to be the leaderships focus.......but he learned he could not do so without outside help. Unfortunately the ‘old team’ was still calling too many shots...as was said at the summit...”these were overcome”...and it took taking out 3 generals and more along the way.
I’ve held a similar theory/hunch about Kim and his movements towards this day. I suspect some of the ugly things that have happened, like Otto, are not connected to Kim, but just the machinations of the NK system doing what it’s done for generations.
Meanwhile Kim’s been killing and clearing out threats to his leadership. The only hole in this theory is the killing of his half brother, who by all accounts wanted nothing to do with NK or it’s politics. That one stumps me.
Final analysis is that I think Kim wants to transform NK into a future SK-like state.
Kim having been educated in a western country, I have always suspected this to be the case. It has taken him this long to get this going. Trump was the final Catalyst.
He wasn’t faking that smile nor the slightly submissive expressions and body language when Trump was directing him from room to room. Something is going on there.
I listened to an author the other night who wrote a history on North Korea. He stated that Kim was the third son, the first two not suitable to take over but their constitution requires the leader be that family. One of the older sons was believed to be gay.
He believed that Kim is/was pretty much controlled by his generals.