{"id":678,"date":"2010-06-23T01:49:15","date_gmt":"2010-06-22T23:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/?p=678"},"modified":"2015-04-27T21:36:20","modified_gmt":"2015-04-27T19:36:20","slug":"waiting-for-the-winds-of-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/waiting-for-the-winds-of-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Waiting for the winds of change"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month, a news headline<\/span> caught my eye: Kim Yong-il had stepped down! Finally, the winds of change<\/span> had reached the distant shores<\/span> of North Korea<\/b>. Finally, its self-imposed<\/span> isolation might end. Finally, there was a chance that the last relics<\/span> of the Cold War would be swept away.<\/p>\n

Only it turned out that the story was about Kim Yong-il, the premier, not Kim Jong-il<\/b>, the “Dear Leader”. A word to the wise<\/span>: if you want to be taken seriously abroad, don’t give all your leaders the same name. One Kim Jong-il, like one George Bush, is enough.<\/p>\n

One Kim Jong-il, like one George Bush, is enough<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Anyway, after months of ill health, “Jong” is still in charge<\/span>, and has been appearing in public again. Besides continuing to build nuclear weapons<\/span>, he’s recently allowed the detention<\/span> and imprisonment of several American citizens<\/a> (said to have entered the country illegally) and the sinking of a South Korean battleship<\/a> (which North Korea denies).<\/p>\n

Although he’s a distant threat to the United States \u2014 his missiles<\/span>, if they worked properly, could just about reach Alaska \u2014 Kim is a real threat to the 28,000 US troops<\/b> stationed in South Korea. Eight years after (the younger) Bush’s “Axis of Evil<\/span>” speech, America still considers him one of the world’s main bogeymen<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Lest we forget<\/span>, Friday, June 25 is the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War<\/b>, in which 37,000 Americans and more than two million Koreans died. In South Korea, they call it the 6\/25 war (after the date). In North Korea, it was the Fatherland Liberation War (led by Kim’s father, Kim Il-sung). But no matter what it’s called, the war hasn’t ended. The fighting ended with an armistice<\/span>, not a peace treaty<\/span>.<\/p>\n

World Cup parallels<\/h2>\n

Recent days have allowed us to spot parallels between North Korea’s performance at the soccer World Cup<\/span> and its performance in international politics. In both, the North has been playing a mostly defensive game. Its players spent almost all their time close together on their own side of the field. But there were random<\/span> attacks as well. At unpredictable<\/span> intervals, a lone<\/span> player boldly rushed toward the opponent’s goal posts<\/span>. Collectively<\/span>, it was as though the North Koreans didn’t understand the game. They kept passing the ball sideways across the field instead of advancing toward a goal.<\/p>\n

It was as though they didn’t understand the game<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

British bookmakers<\/span> had given North Korea odds<\/span> of 2,000 to 1<\/b> to win the championship. I’d say those are about the same odds of North Korea doing anything constructive.<\/p>\n

Although… there has been a nod<\/span> to private enterprise in the capital of this secretive<\/span> monarchy. In 2008, Kim Jong-il revived<\/span> his father’s white elephant<\/span>, a 105-story hotel<\/b> whose unfinished hull<\/span> has dominated the skyline of Pyongyang since 1987. At one point, construction<\/span> of the building consumed two percent of the country’s GDP<\/span>. But instead of using local resources to finish it, Kim invited Egyptian company Orascom<\/a> to do the job. Orascom will then be given an exclusive license to construct a 3G mobile-phone network<\/b>.<\/p>\n