governingnorthkorea and the country’s dealings with the outside have entered a period of suspense The world is waiting to see how the political military apparatus will work with the designated successor to the late dictator Kim Jong-Il his son Kim Jong-Un thought to be a few years shy of age thirty was brought on to the party platform only last year The international fact sheet about him is mostly blank Among the top questions are how he will rule The north Korean military has uhm pledged allegiance to kim Jong-Un right uh meaning there’s unlikely to be a coup-de-tat and uh they’ve basically thrown their weight behind the young Kim now uh the uh north Korean post uh post Kim Jong-Un North korean leadership will be ruled by collective leadership instead of a single man dictatorship so kim Jong-Un will have to share power with uh his uncle Kim Jong-il’s brother-in-law as well as the military here is his uncle jang Song-Thaek appointed to head the National Defense in 2009 He’s expected to be the main mentor for the young man There are stock differences of course Jang is old school and although kim has spent most of his life in North korea he studied in switzerland Nations trying to negotiate with Pyong Yang hope that recent signs of willingness for dialogue will continue Most notably over nuclear weapons which north Korea refuses to give up This expert on the region describes the tensions in play The uhm missile test on Monday was a warning to the uh with the West not to interfere in the the situation in North Korea they are in mourning but then uh they are unlikely to conduct more test or nuclear test if unless they are provoked The country of twenty four million weakened by famine and communist managed economic short fall has been conditioned to subsist on a war footing ever since the 1950 to 53 war ended without a peace treaty With nuclear sanctions in place north Korea survives on donated food mostly from its biggest trading partner china South Koreans hope that eventually there will be reform in the north Which human rights watch says has some of the world’s most brutalized people but if the new kim does bring a thaw in worldly relations it is expected to be cautious
