Take a look at North Korea expert and Marmot’s Hole favorite Andrei Lankov’s English-language blog at Russia Beyond the Headlines.
BTW, if you haven’t seen it already, be sure to check out his recent take on what appear to be North Korea’s “alarmingly” rapid changes. Just a sample:
The probability of the success of reforms (‘success’ as defined as a stable and growing developmental dictatorship) appears even more problematic if we look at Kim Jong Un’s personality and his actions over the last few months. He does many things which are completely unnecessary and are potentially destabilizing. He should not endorse the American pop culture, and Micky ‘The Imperialist Rodent’ Mouse; he absolutely should not turn the front page of Rodong Shinmun into his wedding album (section on honey moon).- Therefore, we should be ready for trouble. A reforming North Korea will likely be very unstable and might collapse. Worse still, collapse is likely to come with little to no prior warning. Media reports about reform are likely to produce the false and dangerous idea that North Korea is solving itself as a problem. This may just be the case, but it is much more likely not to.
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It’s ironic that the very things that Junior may be attempting in order to improve life in NK, such as relaxing of the oppressive rule, could be the very undoing of that whole house of cards. I agree that Junior is indeed in a very precarious position… the slightest of missteps or any signs of weakness could lead to a rapid collapse of NK. I wonder if Gangnam Style has hit the back alleys of Pyongyang yet.
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