U.S. Worried Over Lack Of N. Korea Succession Plan | Newsweek Scope

My Three Sons
Evan Thomas 7/18/2009 12:00:00 AM
The government of North Korea is a giant criminal syndicate, or so it is generally believed. The rulers of the Hermit Kingdom allegedly profit from selling opium and running a black market in weapons technology, pushing missiles and nuclear know-how on the likes of Syria and Pakistan. It has been widely reported that the North Koreans make additional ill-gotten gains from counterfeiting passports and currency. Some of this may be exaggerated. It could be, for instance, that North Korea merely peddles bogus $100 bills that are made in China. But there is no doubt that control of the government in Pyongyang is a rich, if tainted, prize. While roughly a third of the population is malnourished, the rulers can divvy up a $40 billion economy that draws on North Korea's plentiful natural resources, including gold. The question is, who gets the gold?
NORTH KOREA
Looking Past Mr. Kim
B. J. Lee 9/13/2008 12:00:00 AM
Some thoughts are even more disturbing than the idea of Kim Jong Il's controlling an arse nal of poison gas, germ-war cul tures and nuclear devices. Like what if the North Korean leader suddenly didn't control those weapons of mass de struction? The question became particu larly worrisome last week after Kim failed to show up at a major parade in Pyong yang marking the Stalinist regime's 60th anniversary. The Dear Leader hadn't ap peared in public for weeks, and senior North Korean officials soothed no one's doubts when they broke their usual silence to deny that Kim had suffered a stroke. With no solid information on Kim's health—even his best friends, the Chinese, said they knew nothing—Washington could only hope North Korea wasn't on the verge of a succession crisis.
Americans in Pyongyang
Melinda Liu 2/26/2008 12:00:00 AM
When the New York Philharmonic launched into the traditional Korean folk song "Arirang" as an encore, I heard an involuntary intake of breath from the North Korean interpreter sitting next to me. Murmurs of wonderment emanated from the 1,500-member audience, comprised of Pyongyang's elite. "Arirang" is popular among Koreans on both sides of the DMZ, and an iconic anthem of Korean reunification. By concert's end, North Korean VIPs in the balcony were on their feet, clapping vigorously. Taking the cue from their officials' enthusiasm, the audience down below cheered, exclaimed with pleasure, and waved fondly at the America musicians—many of whom were moved to tears. "They played 'Arirang' just as our musicians would have played it," said interpreter Pak Chung Su, who'd begun tapping his fingers in time to the music halfway through the performance. Another audience member, Pak Chol, said, "We have deep feelings for this piece, especially hearing it performed by Americans." It was an emotional climax to a journey dogged by politics and uncertainty—"a stunning, stunning reaction," as music director Lorin Maazel put it. "The orchestra had walked offstage and people continued to cheer." Maazel, who sprinkled his comments to the audience with Korean phrases, felt the crowd begin to warm to the music when he introduced George Gershwin's "An American in Paris"—and suggested that someday a composer might write a song titled "Americans in Pyongyang." Hearing his suggestion, the audience clapped heartily. The evening was full of firsts. Despite the lack of diplomatic ties, the orchestra played both "The Star-Spangled Banner" and the North Korean national anthem. The two nations' flags flanked the stage. The concert was broadcast live on North Korean TV and radio, which was "a very unusual event, almost unheard-of," said New York Philharmonic president Zarin Mehta. At a final banquet capping the evening Mehta declared, "To say I'm over the moon would be an understatement." The big question was whether the night's musical success can act as a catalyst for a diplomatic one, too. Washington-Pyongyang relations have been clouded recently by a tussle over the terms of North Korea's dismantling of its nuclear weapons program. After the concert former U.S. defense secretary William Perry called the moment "historic" and said, "I hope this has pushed us over the top" in terms of resolving the prickly disagreements. Evoking the "ping-pong diplomacy" of the 1970s, which ushered in Sino-U.S. rapprochement, as well as the exchange of American and Russian musicians during the cold war, Perry said, "You cannot demonize people when you're sitting there listening to their music. You don't go to war with people unless you demonize them first." Another American VIP who attended the concert was equally upbeat. "This is a quantum leap above ping-pong diplomacy," said Donald Gregg, a former U.S. ambassador to Seoul and chairman of the Korea Society. He cited the number of people involved, the cost and logistics, as well as the number of North Koreans impacted by the concert's live broadcast. "This is a big deal. [There's] momentum building toward improved relations." North Korean vice culture minister Song Sok Hwan seemed to agree. He told orchestra members their concert had "opened the hearts of the Korean people [and] serves as an important occasion to open a chapter of mutual understanding between the two countries." Just to get to the concert, Perry and Gregg had made history. On Monday they attended the inauguration ceremony for South Korean president Lee Myung-bak in Seoul—and then were permitted by North Korean authorities to make the unusual trip to Pyongyang by road, through the DMZ. Gregg said he was struck by the pragmatic tone of Lee's inauguration speech, saying it was unexpected coming from "someone who came to office with a hardline reputation" vis-à-vis Pyongyang. The combination of Lee's election and the U.S. State Department's willingness to negotiate seriously with North Korea over the nuclear issue made the orchestra's concert "a golden moment" for further diplomatic progress, said Gregg. "The New York Philharmonic has fired a broadside of soft power into the heart [of North Korea]." The echoes of Sino-U.S. ping-pong diplomacy have resounded ever since our chartered aircraft touched down on the snow-dusted tarmac of Pyongyang airport Monday. The North Korean capital in 2008 struck me as remarkably similar to Beijing three decades earlier. The stolid Stalinist terminal, the huge red letters spelling out the city's name, the empty wintry vastness surrounding the facility. Except for a gigantic portrait of late North Korean supremo Kim Il Sung on the terminal building, this could have been Beijing airport in the 1970s.
Quiet Christianity
Stephen Glain 1/22/2008 12:00:00 AM
Pastor Douglas Shin has learned the cost of good intentions-especially in North Korea. Every time the Seoul-based Protestant missionary goes in with another shipment of food for the hungry, the regime's officials grab much if not all of it for themselves, he says. Once, when he tried to negotiate a visit to the capital, Pyongyang, they demanded that he bring a whole rail car loaded with 60 tons of flour and supplies. He finally bargained them down to a 10-ton food shipment, delivered just inside the border by truck from China. At least they let him hand out some of it to people on the streets.
COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
Seoul Tilts Right
12/20/2007 12:00:00 AM
Early results from South Korea's December 19 presidential election show the conservative front-runner candidate, Lee Myung-bak, winning by a sizeable margin over his two opponents. Despite allegations that he was involved in a corruption scandal, Lee gained over 50 percent of the total vote. The Financial Times says the landslide represents a clear mandate for policy change in a country that has been dominated by left-wing parties for the past decade.Specifically, South Koreans seem to have turned on the "sunshine" policy of presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun-a policy of engaging North Korea that the Guardian says will face tough opposition now that Lee is in office. An analysis from the Wall Street Journal argues that South Korea's vote could potentially fray ties with Pyongyang, particularly if Lee decides to cut back on South Korean aid to North Korea in an attempt to spur more straightforward economic ties.
South Korea's Resistance: A 'Parallel Universe'