Where In The World Is Carmen… I Mean, Kim Jong-un
His apparent beef with Seth Rogen and James Franco and his love of Dennis Rodman and the Chicago Bulls makes it pretty clear that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s political career has been anything but normal.
So, when the national supreme leader is not seen in public for a month, should concern be raised? After all, this is the same guy whose early life is still shrouded in mystery.
Quite honestly, Kim Jong-un did not become relevant, politically speaking, until about four years ago, when his late father, Kim Jon-il made him general.
As an inexperienced leader, who may be struggling to command, it would make sense if Kim Jong-un took a break, allowing his advisors and understudies to take control of the country’s political reigns. Yet, here is where the story only gets stranger with each passing day:
Last week, North Korean officials paid a surprise visit to South Korea to hold discussions of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Now, just in case you have no understanding of modern world history, relations between North Korea and South Korea have been tense for decades.
The surprise visit marked the first of its kind in more than five years, the majority of which Kim Jong-un was in command.
Additionally, the officials who traveled to South Korea were top-level members of the North Korean delegation, including men who are believed to be the second and third in command.
While these talks brought hope of peace between the two Korean nations, yesterday, navy boats from each nation exchanged warning shots across a disputed sea border.
In spite of the conflict, the potential for better diplomatic relations between the two countries was intact, but this still leaves us questioning Kim Jong-un’s disappearance.
Two weeks ago, the 31-year-old leader was strangely absent from the Supreme People’s Assembly, causing many to speculate his health. After the North Korean government denied allegations that Kim Jong-un was ill, the governing body admitted he was suffering from discomfort.
Now, while “discomfort” isn’t a specific disease, it certainly is a symptom of some other illnesses.
A look back to the noticeable limp through which Kim Jong-un suffered during the 20th anniversary celebration of his grandfather’s death will show there may be more to this story than North Korean officials are letting on.
Yet, Vice News reported last Thursday that one of its sources — a former counterintelligence for North Korea — claimed Kim Jong-un was no longer in control of North Korea. The source said,
On one hand, it’s people who want to maintain a regime monopoly. On the other hand, it’s not like people are fighting against the regime, but in a policy sense they want to take advantage to get influence. It’s not actually consciously civil war, but there are these two incompatible forces at play.
The source’s comments come after a group of supposed elite North Korean outcasts met in The Netherlands to discuss the state of the nation they used to serve.
Whether it was an illness or a civil-war-fueled coup that removed Kim Jong-un from political relevancy, it appears that for the time being, North Korea will not be a threat to the US.
If North Korea is really even a threat to our national security, this shift in power will allow our nation to focus on more serious problems, like ISIS.
No one seems to know where exactly Kim Jong-un is in the world, but if history repeats itself, North Korea could have a new leader very soon. The last time a North Korean leader was noticeably missing from public gatherings was in 2011, when Kim Jong-il passed away.
