Photos of North Korea’s Kim Jong Il have drawn attention over the years for many reasons, one of the more memorable snapshots having turned up on the cover of the Economist about nine years ago, showing a rotund Kim, with his trademark bouffant hairdo, raising his hand in a half salute. In that case, the best part was the caption: “Greetings, Earthlings.”
But recent footage, aired by North Korean state television, has been getting more attention than anything yet — showing, or so it seems, Kim Jong Il near death’s door. The once round Kim is gaunt, his once-thick hair is thin. He is reported to walk with a limp, and believed to have had a stroke last summer. This past Monday, South Korean media began reporting that according to unnamed Chinese and South Korean intelligence sources, Kim is suffering from pancreatic cancer.
With a possible transition of power in North Korea as context, I’ve put down some thoughts about this in my column this week for Forbes.com, “Dear Leader, Dead Leader?” — urging, and not for the first time, that America’s best bet for coping with North Korea’s murderous, WMD-loving, global racketeering, nuclear extortionist regime is to stop trying to negotiate with these guys, and undermine them entirely. We used to call it “regime change,” and as a policy for coping with predatory totalitarian governments, it has an excellent record — from World War II, to the Soviet collapse, to — yes — Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.
One of the great weaknesses of totalitarian governments is that they have no clear procedure for handing off power. Because the rules morph with the whim of the ruler, transitions happen by way of power struggles, fraught with internal instability. Will Kim be succeeded by his 26-year-old son, Kim Jong Un? By his 63-year-old brother-in-law, Chang Song Taek? By a North Korean variation on Burma’s junta? These are some of the guesses topping the list. But chances are that even Kim’s hairdresser doesn’t know for sure.
For that matter, it isn’t even confirmed that Kim has cancer. North Korea is a country in which even the ruler’s birth date isn’t clear. Officially, Kim is 67 years old, born in 1942 on the sacred Mount Paektu. Unofficially, he is believed to be 68, born in 1941 in Russia. He rules over a system which tested a ballistic missile in April, but advertised it as the launch of a satellite which had gone into orbit broadcasting tunes of glory about Kim and his late father — which was all very interesting, except there was no satellite.
Page 1 of 2 Next ->
PJM Home
Pajamas Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:
1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.
4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.
5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.
The clause regarding "hate speech" has been deleted because readers criticized it as being too loosely defined. We agreed.
These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that Pajamas Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pajamasmedia.com.
11 Comments
1. Pajamas Media » Kim Jong … Ill?:[...] Read the entire piece here. [...]
Jul 17, 2009 - 2:48 am 2. e:NPR has been going on and on about an Obama administrator meeting in Japan chanting to NK that ‘it’s not too late’ for them to return to the six party talks.
Its like telling a problem child that its not too late for them to act good and get a load of Christmas presents. Of course this child knows the presents are already bought and he’ll get gifts anyways.
What we should be doing is say, “We will not negotiate with you until you make and follow through on some concessions first.” In other words, no Christmas for you and unless you improve immediately those gifts are going on ebay.
Jul 17, 2009 - 5:39 am 3. Meryl:(giggle)….
“North Korea is a country in which even the ruler’s birth date isn’t clear.” (…giggle)….
…sorry…I’ll stop….in a minute
Jul 17, 2009 - 7:20 am 4. Delia:I hope his pancreas fail…quickly.
We may not know how old Kimmy is but one thing is for certain: HE IS FUGLY!
Jul 17, 2009 - 7:31 am 5. Saltherring:We should offer Obama to the North Koreans during negotiations. As a practicing Marxist, Obama would be a much better fit as Kim’s successor than he is as America’s president.
Jul 17, 2009 - 7:50 am 6. Sin-U Nam:I checked with North Korean defectors, and Kim Jong-il was born in 1941 according to them. The year when he was born does matter very little. His birthdate matters, which is February 16, or 2/16, or 6×6x6. He uses this number for everything, on his car plate number, for his so-called electoral district(?), and for his favorite army unit. 6×6x6 = 216. NK propaganda claims Kim Jong-il was born in Paek Doo Mountain, which translates “White Head Mountain.” Kim was born in Soviet Union, not in Korea. Anyhow, Our Dear Leader is turning into a White Head soon to become a Dead Leader, as Claudia put it nicely. I want to add, “The Sooner, The Better!”
Jul 17, 2009 - 2:22 pm 7. Professor Guvinoff:The same applies to Iran. They are entering a period of unscheduled transition and utter instability. Where are these wise men who would not let a crisis go to waste when we need them?
Jul 17, 2009 - 3:15 pm 8. Tri Geek:I hope he will soon be followed by Chavez, the Castro boyz, and Amadinajob (sp).
Jul 17, 2009 - 6:17 pm 9. Folklight:KJong and his boys are facing new realities as UN resolution 1874 has begun to change business as usual. The diminished ability for them to whet their “appetites” has heightened their psychosis and landed KJ in isolation.
With only China to depend on; the socialist “utopia” of NK faces ongoing international discussions on how best to handle them. The scrutiny will, along with a chinese stiff arm, hasten KJongs exit from this life to a front row seat in the “smoking” section.
Jul 19, 2009 - 7:09 am 10. Diablo:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.dailynk.com./english/sub_list.php?cataId=nk02300
The frustrating issue dealing with North Korea isn’t its nuclear weapons or even it’s conventional arsenals. The sad fact is that their massive population, with their horrifically low standard of living, represent a huge threat whenever the North finally falls. The closest historical model is of course the reunification of Germany. To this day, West Germany still is subsidizing the East half. Not only that, but the long term effects of rapid reunification had a down turn on the entire European economy. But East Germany had the highest standard of living among the Soviet States. Furthermore, the population of West Germany was much larger than the East. Add in the fact that while the East German government was repressive…it was a holiday trip compare to the extensive and intrusive brutality that occurs in the North. With North and South Korea, the economic disparity is so much more severe and the population involve in the North is close to the population in the South. The massive influx of refugees that would occur could destabilize not only South Korea, but also the border area in China and Japan (all of which already have substantial Korean populations). This in turn would lead to a huge chilling effect to all the Asian economies as South Korea is one of the largest ones. This in turn would have drastic consequences for the global economy which sure as heck isn’t firing on all cylinders as it stands.
So the entire point of all this jibberish is that neither China, nor South Korea under the previous administration’s “Sun Shine” policy, want the North to continue to exist as they current do, but rather increase the standard of living there so as when the country does eventually fall, it does not result in a cataclysmic immigration problem that effects far beyond the borders of the North. Its frustrating in that Kim Jong Il basically is holding his people hostage and uses them as an economic threat to get what he wants.
Jul 19, 2009 - 9:17 am 11. Roderick Reilly:The most fitting thing that could happen in N. Korea would be for the starving people there to rise up and EAT the entire Communist leadership. I would gladly supply the kimchee.
Jul 20, 2009 - 5:09 pm