Kim Jong-un's Anniversary Fireworks.

• Author: Sylvester, John
• Position: Nuclear testing in North Korea - Brief article

KIM JONG-UN'S ANNIVERSARY FIREWORKS

By Dr. Leon V. Sigal, Social Science Research Council

http://nationalinterest.org/print/commentary/kim-jong-uns-anniversary-fireworks-7843?page=1

Reviewed by John Sylvester

The succession of Kim Jong-un to the North Korean throne opened speculation as to how much might change in the regime's former isolation, truculence, and economic underperformance. So far, unfortunately, little but hope lingers on.

This third Kim monarch not only looks like his deified grandfather, but has in part also acted like him with a purge of some of the senior leadership. He has made a few surprising gestures to youth culture, perhaps just reflecting his own age, but basic policies have largely continued as before.

Dr. Sigal's online article notes that the launch, this time successfully, of a long-range missile is part of a tactic "his late father would have approved [by] keeping everyone off balance." Many top officials have visited Beijing, while ignoring China's pleas to stop causing trouble. Kim has resumed talks with Japan, while denouncing Tokyo's...