It's the Year of the Pig in North Korea - 17-Feb-07 - Generational Dynamics

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 17-Feb-07

It's the Year of the Pig in North Korea

On Kim Jong-il's birthday, he gloats about humiliating the U.S.

It's the time of the year for New Year's celebrations in Asia, and Friday was North Korean President Kim Jong-il's birthday. Poverty and starvation are rampant in North Korea, but nothing is too good for Kim's birthday.

As happened on Wednesday, on Friday morning BBC's Charles Scanlon gave an interesting commentary containing things that don't appear online:

Celebrating throngs at Kim Jong-il's birthday celebration on Friday <font face=Arial size=-2>(Source: BBC)</font>

Celebrating throngs at Kim Jong-il's birthday celebration on Friday (Source: BBC)

"This is not a leader who has to worry about opinion polls. Adulation, bordering on worship is the required response when Kim Jong-il meets his subjects. The footage is being played repeatedly on North Korean television, helping whip up enthusiasm for the man they call The Great General.

This year, the birthday celebrations have an extra kick. Kim Jong-il is being credited with giving his country nuclear weapons, and then wrestling the united states into a humiliating climbdown. ...

Despite appearances, this is a regime fighting for survival. Kim Jong-il's genius is to project an image of strength, and make the very best of a weak hand. After testing a nuclear device, he's now looking to extract tribute from nervous neighbors and the United States.

The North Korean people have been told there'll only be a temporary freeze of the nuclear reactor, in return for generous rewards from the outside world. The regime said nothing about giving up the nuclear weapons it's already built, or about dismantling, once and for all, its nuclear capabilities.

Desperately needed aid from South Korea is now likely to resume, and the US financial squeeze will be scaled down.

That's good news for the citizens of Pyongyang, out today to celebrate their leader's birthday. It could also leave little incentive to give up a residual deterrent to keep the regime feeling secure in a hostile world.

As I've written several times on this web site, Kim Jong-il has been masterful in manipulating the world, and for repeatedly making promises with no intention of keeping them.

Prominent billboard in Pyongyang, North Korea, 2003. The right-most frame shows a North Korean spearing an American with a bayonet.

Prominent billboard in Pyongyang, North Korea, 2003. The right-most frame shows a North Korean spearing an American with a bayonet.

Kim has essentially promised his people that he will not honor this week's nuclear accord, and has essentially said that it's a ruse to humiliate the United States and to "extract tribute" in the form of aid.

Part of the nuclear accord requires North Korea to "permanently" disable all nuclear facilities. It will be interesting to see how Kim gets out of that commitment, and how he will arrange for the world to blame the United States. (17-Feb-07) Permanent Link
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Donate to Generational Dynamics via PayPal

	Generational Dynamics
	Forecasting America's Destiny ... and the World's

\| HOME \| WEB LOG \| COUNTRY WIKI \| COMMENT \| FORUM \| DOWNLOADS \| ABOUT \|

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 17-Feb-07 It's the Year of the Pig in North Korea

Web Log Pages

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 17-Feb-07
It's the Year of the Pig in North Korea