North Korea about to name new "Dear Leader" replacement
Well it is official....almost. We have dynastic cult in North Korea.
"Dear Leader" Kim Jong-Il will likely name his youngest son Kim Jong-un as "Dearest Leader" soon BBC A rare meeting of North Korea's ruling party has opened the way for Kim Jong-il to hand power to his youngest son. The Workers' Party, which had not met for 30 years, convened hours after Kim Jong-un was appointed general - even though he has no military experience. His father, who is thought to be in poor health, was re-elected as leader, state media reported. North Korea's succession is being closely watched because of its nuclear programme and hostility with the South.
Its a really interesting and rare look into North Korea's political system. It wasn't that long ago that there was no information available on Kim Jung-Il's immediate family, now we know that Kim Jung-Un who is pretty much the designated successor and has just been named to a prestigeous army general slot, which means he not only retains his father's grip on the army, but he gets a grip on the army industrial system which will make him a very rich young man.
The eldest sun Kim Jong-Nam was originally being set up to take over, but there was a that really weird circumstance where he tried to sneak into Japan on a forged passport, there were some thoughts that he was trying to flee his father. The middle brother Kim Jung-chul was being groomed but his father deemed him to be too soft and feminine. However you can bet once the succession ratifies which it will that the two older brothers will receive high profile jobs probably with one taking over the intelligence services so they can keep it in line, and the other either getting an economic post, or jumping into their foreign service which mostly just deals with China.
The big concern is if the boy is tough enough to hold onto the position once his father dies, Chang Sung-Taek who runs the defense ministry is the number two guy in that government and its assumed that he's been running things there while the elder Kim has been ill, it will be interesting to see what happens to him as he could be a threat to power. In any communist regime and especially in one as brutal as this one, the first thing a new leader does is purge the government acuse his rivals of being wreckers and has them shot. We could see a bloody transition to power.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Its got to be terrible to be a die hard in the wool communist knowing that your life is going to end, and there's nothing after that. Not from a religious sense, but a sense that you had your lifetime to get things done, make the world a better place and all that jazz. But somehow in this guys deep black heart he knows that he betrayed the revolution, starved his people and didn't reunite Korea. If he's at all perceptive he knows that his life is a failure.
And yes, he looks very sick.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Well......that should make any future wars with N Korea a hell of a lot easier.
Its not like they were competantly lead at any stage of their history.
After their good surprise surge in Korea their army was broken and driven back until the Chinese intervened. Their special operations usually get caught, and they weren't very subtle when torpedoing a boat during peacetime.
they have the numbers, and they have a lot of armour and artillary and they're willing to be bled to the bone, but they're not ably lead.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Dammit, I sent in a resume applying for the job. Stupid, incompetent State-Run mail service, they totally lost it. I'm far more qualified than that guy!
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If you thought this season would have a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention.
Its got to be terrible to be a die hard in the wool communist knowing that your life is going to end, and there's nothing after that. Not from a religious sense, but a sense that you had your lifetime to get things done, make the world a better place and all that jazz. But somehow in this guys deep black heart he knows that he betrayed the revolution, starved his people and didn't reunite Korea. If he's at all perceptive he knows that his life is a failure.
And yes, he looks very sick.
Not really, he was never a dyed in wool (the correct expression) communist. He was just another in a long human history of spoiled sons of kings and dictators. He was the spoiled prince of a country. His dad was the real working class rags to riches guy who really had an ideal dream for North Korea. KJI was just a spoiled brat who grew up to a be a balding fat fata absolute ruler who got everything he ever wanted and didn't give a damn if his own people starved to death for his excesses. He lived an excessive lifestyle, was worshiped in a cult of personality, had a huge family, had a army of concubines, surrounded himself with pretty attendants and "nurses", etc. He's pretty much lived the Alpha Male life while being an ugly ######ed asian version of George Costanza.
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Not really, he was never a dyed in wool (the correct expression) communist. He was just another in a long human history of spoiled sons of kings and dictators. He was the spoiled prince of a country. His dad was the real working class rags to riches guy who really had an ideal dream for North Korea. KJI was just a spoiled brat who grew up to a be a balding fat fata absolute ruler who got everything he ever wanted and didn't give a damn if his own people starved to death for his excesses. He lived an excessive lifestyle, was worshiped in a cult of personality, had a huge family, had a army of concubines, surrounded himself with pretty attendants and "nurses", etc. He's pretty much lived the Alpha Male life while being an ugly ######ed asian version of George Costanza.
He's a scotch-loving Al Capone, essentially head of a criminal enterprise that happens to have it's own country as safe ground . . . . . with no Elliott Ness nearby.
I'm afraid it's going to be the law of the jungle bringing the regime down. Like Ceaucescu in Romania. There's probably too many in a position of priviledge who are also eligible for the firing squad because of that for this to all come down easily.
It will eventually fall to free enterprise in all probability.
Cowperson
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He's a scotch-loving Al Capone, essentially head of a criminal enterprise that happens to have it's own country as safe ground . . . . . with no Elliott Ness nearby.
I'm afraid it's going to be the law of the jungle bringing the regime down. Like Ceaucescu in Romania. There's probably too many in a position of priviledge who are also eligible for the firing squad because of that for this to all come down easily.
It will eventually fall to free enterprise in all probability.
Cowperson
The trouble is that to maintain control of N Korea you need to maintain control over the army, thats why every soldier in the military gets fed properly, and every officer over the rank of Lt is also a factory manager or controls a whole seperate economy. Corruption at that level is expected and encouraged as a General for example has no desire to risk losing his position in a coup attempt.
This is the primary reason why Jr was given the rank of General, its a sop to the army.
Where the trouble comes from is their intelligence community, these people have been trained by the Chinese MSS so its expected that its highly penetrated by China, and the Chinese might not be afraid to plant dissenting factors. Also the senior members of their politburo for lack of a better word know that they will never ascend to power because of the dynastic cult, so they might become a little restless. As noted earlier, Kim's own brother in law is viewed as a threat, and when the new Kim takes over he will probably be purged or retired so if he's going to move he'll have to move quickly.
I have my doubts if the government falls, it will fall to free enterprise, at the best it will fall to a hybrid system like China, with a central control government but more free enterprise. I however think if it falls, it will basically fall into civil war and anarchy. If the army ever loses control over there it will be worse then what happened when the Soviet Union fell, we'll see a new and bloody revolution with hardliners used to power on one side, and citizen lead reformers on the other side.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
He's a scotch-loving Al Capone, essentially head of a criminal enterprise that happens to have it's own country as safe ground . . . . . with no Elliott Ness nearby.
I'm afraid it's going to be the law of the jungle bringing the regime down. Like Ceaucescu in Romania. There's probably too many in a position of priviledge who are also eligible for the firing squad because of that for this to all come down easily.
It will eventually fall to free enterprise in all probability.
Cowperson
Don't forget about aspiring James Cameron
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
North Korea about to name new "Dear Leader" replacement
