Kim's Perestroika

Kim Jong Un, the "great leader" or "dear leader"... or "something else leader" of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, also known as North Korea, one of the last hard-line Marxist states in the world, has been the subject of much geopolitical controversy in the last few years; see background links for more information. This centres around his country's sophisticated nuclear weapons programme. He has detonated many A-bombs and even a few hydrogen bombs in tests; and he is also developing long range ballistic missiles to deliver them. From his own point of view this makes perfect sense. His nation is isolated and loathed by almost the entire world. China is the closest thing it has to an ally, but in truth China barely tolerates the upstart little state on its Manchurian border. Kim feared invasion from all sides, yet his nuclear deterrent has made his country far more secure. A military invasion and forced regime change in the DPRK is no longer an option because the consequences would be so horrific. In such a situation Kim would definitely launch his missiles against the big cities of Seoul and Tokyo killing millions. He might even be able to hit a target in the western United States of America. A few months ago there was possibly and attempt to frame North Korea with a false flag nuclear attack, see: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/hawaiian-missile-alert-livestream.html. Since then the state of affairs calmed considerably; but now, in an unprecedented and totally unexpected development, Kim Jong Un has suggested a plan to denuclearize the whole of Korea that would involve a cessation to his entire nuclear development programme. Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-44021305.

Kim has met with his opposite number in South Korea, Moon Jae-In. Kim is the first of the three DPRK leaders ever to set foot in its southern capitalist neighbour's territory. The meeting has led to a proposed further summit with the US President Donald Trump, the man who previously called Kim "rocket boy". Trump has accepted the invitation. So far the prospects look rosy. The positive US response is already showing effects. Every year the USA and South Korea carry out a joint exercise designed to intimidate North Korea called "Foul Eagle". It has gone ahead this year, but it was very much scaled down. We don't yet know the outcome of this upcoming Korean peace summit, but the situation is remarkably similar to the one engineered by Mikhail Gorbachev, the premier of the Soviet Union, in the 1980's. Gorbachev had multiple meetings with Western leaders, especially US President Ronald Reagan, and negotiated a vast reduction in the nuclear arms race that had been the centrepiece of the Cold War for forty years. He also sought to change the Soviet Union's relationship with the global community; he called his new policies Glasnost- "openness" and Perestroika- "restructuring". His hope was to transform the USSR into a different kind of country. It didn't work... or worked too well, depending on your point of view; and the entire Soviet socialist system imploded. In December of 1991 it was disbanded and the modern Russian Federation was founded. Is Kim Jong Un about to try the same thing? It must be tempting. His little socialist state has suffered terribly since its beginnings in 1945. It has experienced economic stagnation, dysfunctional government and constant bickering with the international community. Millions of people have died in a string of famines. As the Korea expert Michael Malice says, Kim has had enough of the stick; now he wants to try the carrot, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fb2infH3PE. (This programme is also interesting: https://redice.tv/red-ice-radio/the-korean-peace-summit-does-trump-deserve-credit) We'll have to wait and see. The summit with North Korea and the USA will take place within a few weeks, probably in China. I will report on it further when it happens.

See here for background: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/north-korea-tests-nuke.html.

And: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/maggie-and-kim_20.html.

And: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/north-korea-is-very-bad-indeed.html.

And: http://hpanwo-radio.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/cmr-listener-in-north-korea.html.