The problem is who to deal with in Korea

I blogged earlier about the latest tensions from the Korean peninsular and finished by saying that the more worrying aspect is the state of the leadership in Pyongyang.

Writing in the New York Times,Mark Landler recognises the problems saying that

In dealing with North Korea, American officials are reduced to studying two-month-old photographs of its reclusive leader, Kim Jong-il, to calculate how long he is likely to live.

One of the theories is that the military do not want a continuation of the Jong-il regime and that the latest manoeuvring may be a symptom of that battle

“People who tell you they know what’s going on there don’t know,” said one official, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak publicly. “What’s undeniable is that there are substantial challenges to all the previous approaches to North Korea.”

Worrying signs in the Korean peninsular

As if the situation in the Korean peninsuala wasn't bad enough after the nuclear and missle tests earlier in the week,this morning's news increases the tension in the area.

Pyongyang has announced that it is longer constrained by the 1953 treaty which brought a ceasefire to the war after the South joined a US-led initiative to intercept ships suspected of trafficking weapons of mass destruction.

Effectively it means that the North would feel that it could cross the border and attack the South.

After Monday's nuclear test and the launching of six short range missles in the last two days,this must be seen as a very worryoing development.Not least that there appears to be a succession battle in Pyongyang with the military unwilling to let the Kim succession continue

In the land of no smiles

Posing as a businessman looking to open a chocolate factory,documentary photographer Tomas van Houtryve entered North Korea to take some brilliant shots of everyday life in Pyongyang Ht-Harry's Place)

This piece in Foreign Policy shows the realities of what he describes as the world's last gulag.

Pyongyang has been in the news in recent weeks as its regime launched a prototype rocket which the West has interpreted as being the first stage in a capability to launch nuclear weapons.

For more information on North Korea it is worth reading Glyn Ford's piece in Time this week.In an article entitled Pausing for Mr Obama,Glyn describes a country in the balance

Pyongyang is trying to build a “strong and prosperous” country by 2012, the centenary of Kim Il-sung’s birth. The increasingly prominent Workers’ Party is united on the slogan but divided on causality. Is it to be strength through prosperity or prosperity through strength – an issue that has divided communists for almost a century?

North Korea tests the water

The news this morning that North Korea has successfully launched a rocket into space will send shock waves around much of the world.

By defying the United States,China and several UN resolutions,Pyonyong has sent a clear messasge that it intends to to prove it can have the capability to shoot a nuclear warhead on a longer-range missile.

Most threatened though will be South Korea.Its spokesman Lee Dong-kwan,said

“North Korea’s launch of its long-range rocket poses a serious threat to the stability of the Korean Peninsula and the rest of the world at a time when the entire world is pulling its wisdom together to overcome the global economic crisis.”

The launching will also provide a test for Barack Obama just days after the US president committed the world to a reduction in nuclear capacity.If this test ends up as a success, it will make the design far more attractive on the international black market.

Happy days in Pyongyang

Paul Waugh draws my attention to a posting by our ambassador to North Korea that haven of democracy.(only joking)

What upsets Mr Waugh is the jovial atmosphere that is painted in this most repressive of societies as gleaned from this section as he describes the elections of the 12th Supreme People's Assembly

"There was a very festive atmosphere throughout the city. Many people were walking to or from the polling stations, or thronging the parks to have picnics or just stroll. Most of the ladies were dressed in the colourful traditional hanguk pokshik and the men in their best suits. Outside the central polling stations there were bands playing and people dancing and singing to entertain the queues of voters waiting patiently to select their representatives in the country's unicameral legislature. The booths selling drinks and snacks were very popular with the crowds and everyone seemed to be having a good time. The list of successful candidates was published on Monday."

One can only assume that his blog is being censored