North Korea Leadership Watch

Guidance Train (Bound for Glory)

(n.b. Kim Jong-il’s last appearance was at a music performance on 17 October) The field guidance train (“the People’s train, the train of love”) rolled along. Kim Jong-il made three guidance visits this week. Since […]

Oct, 23

Morningstar General's Footsteps, Encore

UPDATE AFP (Agence France Prese) has additional information concerning Nam Sung-wook’s lecture about Kim Jong-un’s succession being muted. The AFP report goes on to say that Jang Song-thaek “has also been sidelined for the time […]

Oct, 22

New North Hamgyong People's Committee Boss

The North Korean media indirectly reported Pak Su-gil’s replacement as Chair of the North Hamgyong Provincial People’s Committee. Mr. Pak was promoted to Minister of Finance and a Vice Premier of the DPRK Cabinet, following […]

Oct, 21

Kim Yang-gon to Beijing

UPDATE Korea Times reports further on Kim Yang-gon’s jaunt to Beijing. This is adding fodder that an Inter-Korean summit meeting may take place, as Mr. Kim met with at least one South Korean legislator during […]

Oct, 21

DPRK's Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Vienna

A Japanese web resource reports the return to Vienna of DPRK Ambassador to Austria, Kim Kwang-sop, following a three-month holiday. Ambassador Kim is currently the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Vienna: February 2010 will […]

Oct, 20

Morningstar General's Footsteps

The reliable Tony Chang has an interesting (and anonymously sourced) story in Yonhap concerning the possible succession of Kim Jong-un. I am not holding my breath until, perhaps around the year 2012, when we hear […]

Oct, 20

Bosworth-Kang Chinese Showdown

The Korea Herald reports today that Beijing has been proposed as the setting for a bi-lateral US-DPRK meeting which the US hopes facilitates the DPRK returning to the Six-Party Talks. According to the report, Special […]

Oct, 19

Where was Jang Song-thaek?

(N.B.: some material in this posting is drawn from my forthcoming short biography on Jang Song-thaek The Juche Jump (Hey, Mr. Jang!) which will appear in print at the end of the month) The SK […]

Oct, 17

KN-02 Tests Not for an Outside Audience (Necessarily)

The DPRK knew that conducting tests on the KN-02 surface-to-surface missiles would attract external attention. Despite brushing off the tests as routine military exercises, South Korea is entirely justified in its concerns. The South Korean […]