Motus Mentis

We haven’t mentioned the Norks much in these pages lately (or, for that matter, foreign affairs generally; we’ve been taking a bit of a breather there). Time to catch up a bit.

As I’m sure most of you know, the doughy, degenerate, dipsomaniacal despot Kim Jong-un has recently executed his girlfriend, his uncle’s closest advisers, and his uncle himself, the latter being the man who groomed him for his current position.

Today, NightWatch reports that Kim was drunk at the time he offed his uncle’s posse:

North Korea: New information indicates that Kim Jong Un was thoroughly drunk when he ordered the execution of the aides of his uncle, Chang Sung-taek in November. Eight of Chang’s aides were executed before Chang. They were among the best and brightest economists in North Korea.

Comment:  Kim Jong Un has his father’s — Kim Chong-il’s — strong despotic instinct for survival, but even less insight about how to govern anything, much less a country, such as North Korea.

Kim Chong-il was a drunk and voyeur of pornography who executed those who disagreed with him. Kim Jong Un is following his father’s practices of making important decisions while drunk and executing those whom he is told disagree with him.

The key difference is that Kim Chong-il knew who his enemies were because he grew up in North Korea and studied with the veterans of the three Korean wars.

Kim Jong Un is essentially a foreigner; educated in Switzerland, who has no memories of the three wars; no military service, and has to be told who his enemies are by communist party hacks who are now wearing military uniforms. When Kim is drunk, the Army is always on duty.

Can you imagine what it must be like to be a member of this man’s inner circle? To be his wife? John Derbyshire does just that, here.

Finally, George Friedman of STRATFOR examines North Korea’s strategy for long-term survival: to be “ferocious, weak and crazy“.