Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Time for a new Korean viceroy?

Well, it's just about everywhere now (BBC, BBC again, CNN, Washington Post, and Washington Times); Kim Jong-il is ill, possibly recovering (or not recovering) from a stroke.

It is certainly possible that Kim recovers, which means nothing effectively changes.

If he dies? Well, that could be very interesting.

The question of succession is, from what anyone can tell, up in the air. If true, that could mean the next "leader" of northern Korea will not be able to rely on the propaganda edifice built by the late Kim Il-Sung - especially of it's not someone from Kim's line.

Either way, KJI's successor will be dependent on the powers that be - the military, the elite in the "Workers' Party," and the all important entity upon which the northern Korean tyranny has always relied: the Chinese Communist Party.

At first, this will look like an improvement to the rest of the world. Odds are the publicity-mad regime in Beijing will tell its Pyongyang counterpart to knock off the assassination plots (BBC), and perhaps for some other things for the appeasement crowd in the free world. More ominously, it will also mean a more Beijing-dependent northern Korea, meaning more room for the CCP's penchant for coruption (Epoch Times).

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