Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Epik_Teacher]

Say hello to Kim Jong-un, the "Brilliant Comrade."

Meeting delayed amid rumours of ill health
September 11, 2010

http://www.smh.com.au/world/meeting-delayed-amid-rumours-of-ill-health-20100910-154ze.html

TOKYO: North Korea marked its 62nd anniversary this week amid speculation its dictator, Kim Jong-il, was not well enough to open a rare meeting of ruling party members that could see his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, effectively named the country's leader in waiting.

As North Koreans made pilgrimages to a statue of the country's founder, Kim Il-sung, Korea watchers speculated on the timing of the Congress, the first major gathering of the Korean Workers' Party in 30 years.

Some had expected the meeting to start early this month, but reports suggest it has been postponed due to Kim Jong-il's health. The 68-year-old is widely believed to have had a stroke in 2008 and is said to be suffering from kidney trouble and diabetes............

http://www.smh.com.au/world/meeting-delayed-amid-rumours-of-ill-health-20100910-154ze.html

[le-paul]

i hope so.
Im sure the world will be a better place without him. For one thing, the GI's can go home...

[T-J]

[cdninkorea]

When he dies I'll be cheering in the halls; I'd kill him myself if I had the chance.

[Globutron]

[Horangi Munshin]

[Globutron]

[tiger fancini]

[cdninkorea]

[Globutron]

[jvalmer]

Wonder how smooth the transition of power to a 3rd generation will be? Considering that large multi-national businesses have a tendency to go bankrupt by the time the founder's grandchildren struggle for power, it doesn't look good.

But the NK generals will do all they can to keep it all internal, so low chance of regional instability.

[Todstar]

I wonder how a truly evil man contemplates his own mortality and what payback may await him if anything?

[Epik_Teacher]

It will be interesting to see what happens. The Chinese don't want "The Brilliant Comrade" to take over, thinking he is a spoiled kid with no experience. Everyone thinks Kim, Jung-il is an autocrat with unlimited power. But he has to play a balancing act with the military big shots who don't want to lose any power or privileges. There has been open criticism of the government, which is very unusual in NK. Contrary to what the media says, the Kim government is very much despised in NK. A lot of NK's who have suffered don't worship the ground Kim, jung-il walks on. A revolt could happen, which is why they are watching everyone very closely.

China uses NK to poke the US in the eye, and to soak up some American military resources. But neither China or Japan want NK and SK to unite--for different reasons. China can't afford to have any kind of revolt on their border, it could spread to other provinces, especially the Muslim ones.

On top of all this, NK has $TRILLIONS of mineral reserves like China's. They have lots of recoverable Rare Earth Elements and other mineral resources. China does not want to lose it's current monopoly on them, either. If there is some kind of power struggle in NK, my guess is that China will get itself "invited" into NK (think Afghanistan inviting Russia in the 1980's). The Chinese will squash any rebellion of NK's and put in a puppet government that answers to the Chinese.

SK is already being integrated into the Chinese economy. NK will most likely be no different. The regional trading bloc will be dominated by China and Japan, with them as the economic engines. The Korea's are along for the ride, mostly because of location. Meanwhile, China and Russia are slowly and quietly repairing the railroad way in NK. Eventually, they will probably have a trading route that starts in Japan, to Pusan ports, to railways that go from SK to NK. These will branch out into Russia and China and thru to the European trading bloc.

My 2 cents, for what's it's worth.................

[mc_jc]

The postponement of the People's Congress in P'yang will effectively put the question of secession on the back burner. However, the longer such an announcement is delayed, the more ordinary North Koreans will question who will take over after KJI dies. There is a lot of speculation even now as to who is in control.
The general consensus is that a committee will rule North Korea until KJU is old enough and experienced enough to take control of the country.
When KJI took over after his father's death in 1994, several North Korean generals attempted to stage a revolt in the northern and eastern regions of the country with the blessing of China and Russia. Tens of thousands of soldiers, their families and others who supported the uprising were summarily executed. Since then, KJI has tread a very fine line with the KPLA by creating the "Military First" policy in order to appease the generals and avoid another crisis. Since officially taking over from his father, KJI has placed many family members in important military posts to keep a close eye on the 1.4 million-strong KPLA.
The Chinese hate KJI, mainly because he refuses to listen to them regarding North Korea's nuclear program. However, North Korea fits into the Chinese policy of keeping buffer states between them to prevent western influence from filtering uncontrollably into China or causing an uprising among their many disenchanted minorities. So, North Korea has become a bitter pill they have had to swallow.