Update: This essay was written before this week’s execution of North Korean Defense Minister Hyon Yong-Chol. The sheer brutality of that execution – for the ‘crime’ of falling asleep in public, and by anti-aircraft gun – supports the contention in the essay below that Kim Jong-Un skipped his recent Moscow trip for fear of a coup when out of the country. REK
Update II: AFP is casting doubt on the execution story, though it seems the defence minister was ‘purged’.
A few days ago, President Vladimir Putin hosted several world leaders in Moscow to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Soviet defeat …read more
Kim Jong Un reveals his shaky grip on power
