"I'll Make a Man Out of You"

It's been a couple months since I've posted some North Korea news. Some of you will remember the posts about the sinking of the Cheonan and the reactions between North and South, as well as the flexing of power between the U.S. and China holding naval exercises.

The recent news pertaining to North Korea has been largely focused on Kim Jong il's latest trip to China. He had met with Chinese leaders a few months ago after the sinking of the Cheonan, a trip in which some theorize that Kim was trying to get support from China due to the US/ROK's blaming the North for torpedoing the ship, and then imposing new sanctions on the DPRK.

Kim met again with Chinese delagates a few days ago, this time it seems that he is seeking China's approval to hand over power to his youngest son - twenty-something-year-old Kim Jong Un. Apparently, Jong il has been grooming his youngest son for power over the last year after he suffered a mild stroke. Jong il is reported to have 3 sons - the eldest is seen as spoiled, studied in Switzerland, and likes to travel with fake passports - as he did in Japan trying to go to Toyko's Disney World (and was caught). As an embarrassment to the DPRK he was not a likely candidate. Neither is the middle son who no one really knows of.

 

CNN's story:

Grooming Jong Un for power needs the support of China as well as the Workers' Party of Korea, so his father has been spreading stories of his greatness to the people of the North. Some reports said that shrines were being made to honor him in small villages.

There has also been some posturing due to financial issues on the side of the North. Recently, an American activist (and religious whack job) named Aijalon Gomes crossed into the North to bring attention to the human rights violations and starving children in the DPRK - which he was quickly captured and sentenced to hard labor (seemingly trying to copy Robert Park - another idiot). Former President Jimmy Carter flew to the North to gain his release - who knows what the U.S. actually ended up doing to achieve this - money or aid I'm sure.

The DPRK also captured a South Korean fishing vessel recently, and around the same time suffered some severe flooding. It is reported that the South would be giving the North over 8 million dollars in aid - and all of a sudden, the fishermen were returned to the South.

The game is still being played. The chess pieces of North and South are being moved about by the US and China, and is being bet on by the international community in form of coroporations who want to get cash in their pockets in the long run.

When will we humans ever learn....?