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They do need that figurehead on some level, though. Especially given the role of propaganda in NK. I don't know the precise dynamics here, but if a faction is well-positioned to take advantage of the absence of a Dear Leader, they will be quite happy to see him taken out of the equation in a manner which does not implicate them. If I had to take a stab at it, I would guess that without a common loyalty to Juche Made Flesh, the army devolves into factions loyal to specific generals rather than to a common leader. If Kim Jong-un has been used by one faction to offset the influence of one or more highly popular military leaders, then his removal may well turn the balance of power upside down. If the popular faction wanted reforms and was being held back by the faction using Kim, that would explain this development nicely. Hodgepodge fucked around with this message at 09:03 on Oct 6, 2014 |
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Oct 6, 2014 08:52
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I can only imagine that reunification would be a huge emotional issue, with families reunited and historical and religious sites opened to people in either country. Reform of the NK government would also achieve that, but as I understand it, the biggest problem would still be the flood of emigrants from the country to China and South Korea. I guess the question is partly how much South Koreans are willing to pay for unification. In a better world, I would suggest Marshal Plan levels of aid from America and the West, but good luck getting the Republicans to fund that through their little temper tantrum, and America would be the primary western beneficiary in foreign policy terms.
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Oct 6, 2014 12:36
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Realistically? The same thing that happens between China, India, and Pakistan: everyone involved realizes that they don't hate each other as much as they love having a society rather than an uninhabitable wasteland. Like if Japan got nukes, they would be facing the annihilation of their entire culture and the reduction of the few remaining Japanese to a diaspora were they to use them.
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Oct 6, 2014 13:24
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whatever7 posted:Actually China may push for "1 country 2 systems" in Korea now that I think about it. Or just two countries that are on terms that don't require a giant landmine deathpit between them. At any rate, China will have the fact that literally anything is better than Juche going for them. Like you could open the box from Hellraiser and suck the entire country into a world of pure sadomasochism and that would still be an improvement.
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Oct 6, 2014 16:17
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As I understand it, Canadian subs regularly do that sort of thing during joint training maneuvers for the same reason. And I can only suppose that it's the type of thing that you want the relevant crew members to have experience dealing with.
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Oct 7, 2014 15:36
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Trochanter posted:If North Korea's government collapses, can/will its neighbours seal off the borders and let its people die en masse? One interesting part of the argument of the author whose lecture was posted above is that North Korean propaganda has been so effectively racist that they're terrified of most of the world outside of North and maybe South Korea and wouldn't want to leave unless the alternative is literally starvation. With the maternal elements he (very effectively) argues take precedence over paternalistic imagery in the Kim cult, I could see Jong-Il's daughter replacing her brother quite smoothly; perhaps with a new conciliatory attitude that is less aggressive towards the outside world in exchange for aid and perhaps even legitimate trade to a degree. e: Reading his book now, and his opening quote is pretty  quote:MOTHER: 1) The woman who has given birth to one: Father and mother; a mother’s love. A mother’s benevolence is higher than a mountain, deeper than the ocean. Also used in the sense of “a woman who has a child”: What all mothers anxiously want is for their children to grow up healthy and become magnificent red builders. 2) A respectful term for someone of an age similar to one’s own mother: Comrade Platoon Leader called Dŏngmani’s mother “mother” and always helped her in her work. 3) A metaphor for being loving, looking after everything, and worrying about others: Party officials must become mothers who ceaselessly love and teach the Party rank and file, and become standard-bearers at the forefront of activities. In other words, someone in charge of lodgings has to become a mother to the boarders. This means looking carefully after everything: whether someone is cold or sick, how they are eating, and so on. 4) A metaphor for the source from which something originates: The Party is the great mother of everything new. Necessity is the mother of invention. Hodgepodge fucked around with this message at 23:20 on Oct 11, 2014 |
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Oct 11, 2014 18:24
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Pimpmust posted:Dunno which documentary that went into it, but North Korea isn't quite paternalistic (as we'd imagine it) and got this weird "Mother" thing going on with their leadership image. You caught a very confusing typo in that post. The corrected version: quote:With the maternal elements he (very effectively) argues take precedence over paternalistic imagery in the Kim cult, I could see Jong-Il's daughter replacing her brother quite smoothly; perhaps with a new conciliatory attitude that is less aggressive towards the outside world in exchange for aid and perhaps even legitimate trade to a degree.
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Oct 11, 2014 23:21
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