In reading all the news account of actions taken by Kim Jong Un, they make it sound like he is personally making all these decisions, the latest of which was the startling (to me) execution of his own uncle for treason. First, I don’t know if the uncle were truly treasonous or whether they were trumped-up charges to get him out of the way; the accounts I’ve read simply repeat the charges with deadpan seriousness. But regardless, I find it difficult to believe that a 30-year-old with little government or military experience, possibly educated abroad, would step into power with such aggressiveness and vehemence, unless he were possibly indoctrinated into this role from a very young age. But that seems not to be the case; it was not a foregone conclusion prior to Kim Jong Il’s death that Un would be the successor.
I know next to nothing about North Korea’s internal politics but as a casual observer this just doesn’t add up to me. Is there a back-room staff of leaders from his father’s ear providing the real leadership that are pulling his strings?
He’s a tyrant. A kid that was indoctrinated himself. I think it’s one of two things.
1- His Uncle was making reasonable suggestions that might improve the condition of the Country. BUT, these suggestions might make Kim look like less of a God and would cost him a speed boat or three.
2- He killed him to keep the other dissenters in line. So that he could keep his speed boat or three.
No-one knows if Kim is doing these things or taking credit for things he can’t control, and is he is doing them no-one knows what for, whether to keep people in line or to appease hardliners he might not otherwise be able to control.
From what I’ve read, there are two competing factions in Best Korea:
The military first group. Hardcore, let the peasants starve if it means they can build nukes and missiles. Hates China (as well as all other nations). Very scary people.
Reformers. Reduce the military. Loosen up economically a tiny bit. Work with China to get some aid. Still quite nasty people, but not as bad as the military first people.
KJU’s uncle was a major figure in the 2nd group. His execution pretty much says who is firmly in charge now.
KJU knows that at any moment he can be taken out. He stays around as long as he is useful to the most dominant group. There is some back and forth. He gives the militarists what they want, they give him what he wants. They play each other. The goal for everyone is to not end up at the wrong end of a machine gun.
“Puppet” is far too strong. “Tyrant” ignores political realities.
When Un first took over the theory I’d heard was that he was a puppet, but his uncle was the real power behind the throne. To me this murder was a sign that Un was the one trying to consolidate his power.
And Un was (to my knowledge) being groomed for a few years before Jong Il died. So he has been at this for a half a decade or more. Granted, not a long time but you can learn a few things in that time.
I read that according to SK reports of the 200 most important leaders of the military and political system in NK, about 100 have been purged since Un took over.
I had to Google that. I did not know that it was in Candide.
I thought it was a smart ass remark Voltaire made to Catherine the Great.
Ignorance has been fought!
I actually think his heavy-handed actions might be, at least in part, due to the paranoid fear of exactly this; becoming a puppet. Perhaps his uncle gave him some advice, and Un came to view him as a threat who was trying to rule via him as a proxy.
Kim Jong Un is likely very paranoid, and is purging anyone he considers a threat to his rule. He probably understands he’s young for a world leader, relatively inexperienced, and feels vulnerable to older and wiser people in the military and government, who could try to use him or overthrow him, so he’s just getting them out of the way.
The internal politics are, at heart, very simple. The Kims want to retain power and will do anything at all in order to achieve that. Everything else comes from there.
I actually find it very easy to believe, given what we know about the Kims and the way they think. He wasn’t the heir apparent all along, but he was certainly indoctrinated into the Kim brand of megalomania from birth. That kind of vehemence and aggressiveness is not surprising from one who believes he is infallible.
It doesn’t add up because a sane and normal person has trouble comprehending how unbelievably screwed up North Korea is. It’s just very very hard to wrap your brain around it because the stuff they do makes no sense at all. The country is just one big giant ball of WTF. You have to make kind of a mental leap before you can believe the insanity of it all.
The thing is Kim III might just be a great reformer. Or he may be Stalin reborn. I have heard many theories about uncle’s popping, ranging from a hard liner crackdown, to a crackdown on hard liners to ( seriously) Kim III getting pissed off over uncles extra marital affairs.
Nobody has a clue and if they say they do, they are lying even more than the CIA did on WMDs.
Unfortunately, from his actions since taking power, it’s looking increasingly unlikely that he’s going to be a great reformer unless his hand is forced somehow. You’re right in that the uncle’s execution could indicate a number of things, but taken in the context of his other deeds, it’s unlikely that he did it for any reason that we might find palatable.
ETA: Not that we would find any political execution palatable…well, I think you know what I meant anyway.
