North Korea Leadership Watch

Research and Analysis on the DPRK Leadership

LMB's Indecision, KJI in the Navy and Is HRC Pyongyang-bound?

Without sounding like the braying editorial board of Rodong Sinmun, is ROK President Lee Myung-bak playing with a full deck?  Is President Lee a few french fries short of a Happy Meal?  After brushing aside recent DPRK entreaties for Inter-Korean meetings, Yonhap reports President Lee will meet with the DPRK “anytime, anywhere” for a discussion on the North Korean nuclear program and outstanding abduction issues.  In all fairness the DPRK likes to hold these meetings on Shakedown Street, but it is a bit odd to see President Lee vacillate between course of action and another.

Kim Jong-il continues a week-long journey of guidance and inspection, having visited Unit 587 a naval unit of the KPA with top KPA brass.

And the US-DPRK talks won’t stop with Ambassador Bosworth’s trip to Pyongyang on 8 December.  The Bosworth-Kang talks in early December may set the stage for a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and some unknown North Korean interlocutor, perhaps Kang Sok-ju, or even General-Secretary Kim himself.

 

Information

This article was written on 27 Nov 2009, and is filled under DPRK External Relations, DPRK-US Relations, Inter-Korean Relations, Kim Jong-il, Six Party Talks.

An affiliate of 38 North