North Korea Under Kim Jong Un
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The document that is presented to study is a document extract from “Inha Journal of International Studies”. During all the past years, North Korea was closed to itself and that causes the poor economy and some others internal conflicts. North Koreas situation is very not understandable and still has to be studied and understood.
After the death of Kim Jong-il, his youngest son, Kim Jong-un took the power and has been chosen to be the successor of his father with the help of the old men that have been around his father since long time but also Jang Sunk Taek, the husband of his aunt. As a new leader, he has the power to change North Koreas situation.
Kim Jong-Un is obviously inexperienced and lacks a military and party network to support his claims to power regents have been appointed. He has studied in Switzerland so he knows that by opening his country to the foreign it can be a benefit for his country and it economy and situation.
After Kim Jong-ils death, his successor, Kim Jong-un has the same interest as his father; make North Korea a powerful state by having the nuclear weapons. The country is being concentrated in how to make North Korea a powerful country and if nothing stops North Korea, it can be a country that has a power against the United States of America by having the nuclear weapon by the end of 2013.
For Kim Jong-un upholding his own legacy means maintaining the familys respect and greatness and hagiography. In fact, according to North Korean media, the images of Kim Jong-un in the first months of leadership evoke his grandfather more than his father, in terms of physical but also in terms of interactions with ordinary people. In some pictures, Kim Jong-un is holding soldiers arms and walking arm-in-arm with them and even putting his hand up to a persons cheek.
North Korea has already made clear that under Kim Jong-un there will be no change in the “military first policy”, term that his father used to use to determine that military comes before everything and that support the regime. The new regime of Kim Jong-un has indicated continuity in foreign policy, even if he lived his life in Switzerland and he knows that the situation of North Korea would be better. Furthermore, Kim Jong-un has announced that there would be no changes toward the relation with South Korea as long as the current president in in power, Lee Myung-bak.
By being the leader, Kim Jong-un had some ideas for North Koreas situation but that cannot be applied because he is surrounded by senior members of the ruling party and the military who are expected to act as his guardians, and by his uncle Jang Song-taek the vice chairman of the National Defense Commission. Jang is better and well versed in the policy matters as well as the power dynamics of the system, and is likely to play an important role in determining the direction of the new regime.
In Kim Jong-uns succession, there are more actors involved in the leadership structure because Kim Jong-un doesnt have experience in politics and wasnt present in front of the Korean population. As the article says, many people cannot lead communist countries as North Korea in the same time.
North Korea has a little economy, and most of its population is suffering from the hard life there. Pyongyang understands this very well and knows that its economic policies are at the heart of the countrys weakness and poverty yet has not made any move to reverse its fortunes. So far, expectations that extreme poverty would translate into regime instability have underestimated the governments resourcefulness and endurance.
The United States has a conflict with North Korea because of the nuclear power. In fact, the US is convincing North Korea leaders to stop their