What’s the deal with Kim Jong Un?
Current Events
Since his rise to power in 2011, the North Korean dictator has followed closely in the footsteps of his father (Kim Jong Il) and grandfather (Kim Il Sung), maintaining the rule of tyranny they established decades before him. However, for at least the past month or so, the world has suddenly seen a different side of Kim Jong Un — a man who now appears to be more open, cooperative, and willing to adapt to the 21st Century world around him.
Earlier this year, Kim Jong Un agreed to send a unified team of North and South Korean athletes to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang. Next, after a war of words with Donald Trump that caused Hawaii to believe it was on the brink of nuclear annihilation, Kim Jong Un agreed to a sit down meeting with Trump and vowed to shut down the country’s nuclear test site. Then on Friday, Kim Jong Un casually strolled across the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea to shake hands with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, in an effort to begin talks to officially end the decades-long Korean War.
So, what gives?
Has the world’s sanctions and isolation of the communist nation finally forced North Korea to change? Could the 35-year-old dictator, who loves technology and America’s NBA basketball, be ready to ditch the antiquated rule of his predecessors and embrace modern society? Is it possible that the crazed and unpredictable antics of Donald Trump have prompted Kim to seek an alliance with South Korea as somewhat of an insurance policy to protect against Trump’s America? Or, could Kim Jong Un be conducting a long con with a more sinister motive in mind?
The White House has taken a cautious approach.
“On the occasion of Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-in’s historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, we wish the Korean people well,” it said in a statement. “We are hopeful that talks will achieve progress toward a future of peace and prosperity for the entire Korean Peninsula.”
However, others were not so optimistic.
“I strongly … hope that North Korea will take concrete actions. I will keep close eyes on North Korea’s actions from now,” Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said while barely concealing his doubt. He added, “I’ll believe denuclearization when I see it.”
Other North Korean experts were mindful of Kim’s threats to the US from nearly a year ago when he vowed to deliver intercontinental ballistic missiles that could reach the US mainland as a “gift package to the Yankees.”
“How many pictures of him are there where he’s at a nuclear facility at a missile test and he’s smiling and happy?” asked Catherine Dill, a Senior Research Associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.
“Just because he seems like a jolly man doesn’t mean that his intentions are pure, or that he’s unable to launch a missile again,” she added. “A lot of the summit, even if the true intention of President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un was to work towards peace at some point, there’s a lot of pageantry involved. So in some sense, he was acting.”
Miha Hribenik, a senior Asia analyst at global risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft was also skeptical, saying “The prospects of North Korea dismantling its nuclear and ballistic missile arsenals remain as dim as ever. Once the cameras are switched off and the enthusiasm over Friday’s summit declaration — which promises a peaceful and nuclear-free Korean peninsula — subsides, both sides will need to roll up their sleeves and get to work.”
He added, “We continue to maintain our long-standing view that North Korea under Kim Jong Un has no intention of unilaterally denuclearizing without the kind of security guarantees South Korea and the US cannot realistically provide.”
Hribenik believes that the North Korean “sudden charm offensive” is a ploy designed to “extract as many economic and security concessions as possible while sacrificing as little as it can in return.” Donald Trump believes his unpredictable bark is having an effect on Kim Jong Un. South Korea is hopeful that this might be the first real opportunity in decades for the once unified nation to become allies.
Who’s right?
As my granddaddy would say I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could spit. Like the article said he was talking about bombing us only a year ago but now he wants to play nice? No way. He wants something so he is playing the game. All this talk about unity is a trick. I say do not trust this weasel.