The Trouble with North Korea
It is neither useful nor very plausible to assume that Kim Jong-un and his military advisers are mad. While the Kim family’s tyranny is based on a mixture of ideological fanaticism, vicious realpolitik, and paranoia, this lethal brew has a history, which needs to be explained.
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NEW YORK – Nobody would care much about North Korea – a small and isolated country of 24 million people, ruled by a grotesque dynasty that calls itself communist – if it were not for its nuclear weapons. Its current ruler, Kim Jong-un, the 30-year-old grandson of North Korea’s founder and “Great Leader,” is now threatening to turn Seoul, the rich and bustling capital of South Korea, into “a sea of fire.” American military bases in Asia and the Pacific are also on his list of targets.