Kim Jong-un, the "Young General" becomes the "Great Successor"

This piece is a must watch episode of "Inside Story" from Al Jazeera:

Little is known about the man slated to succeed Kim Jong-il but few think the transition of power will be smooth.

Super-Silent Jimmy Carter Ready to Spy on North Korea

When Madmen Have Bombs...

Obama Narrows the Range of Possible Targets in New National Nuclear-Weapons Policy

Pentagon eyes accelerated "bunker buster" bomb; Q2 Earnings Reports

The Air Force will do anything to keep their share of the bloated defense budget, which is almost always the biggest piece of the pie because of R&D and weapons technology. First it was the F-35, F-22, new fuel tankers, and now they are focusing on a new "bunker buster" to counter the perceived threats from North Korea and Iran. Boeing, who posted a 17 percent Q2 profit primarily because revenue from the integrated defense systems unit rose 9 percent to $8.7 billion, is more than willing to get another big government contract and build as many "bunker buster" bombs we "need."

"The Air Force and Department of Defense are looking at the possibility of accelerating the program," he said. "There have been discussions with the four congressional committees with oversight responsibilities. No final decision has been made."

The precision-guided weapon, built by Boeing Co (BA.N), could become the biggest conventional bomb the United States has ever used.

Carrying more than 5,300 pounds of explosives. it would deliver more than 10 times the explosive power of its predecessor, the 2,000-pound BLU-109, according to the Pentagon's Defense Threat Reduction Agency, which has funded and managed the seed program.

Chicago-based Boeing, the Pentagon's No. 2 supplier by sales, could be put on contract within 72 hours to build the first MOP production models if Congress signs off, Bourland said.

Other defense industrial complex giants did not fare as well as Boeing did in the second quarter of 2009. Only Raytheon posted a profit. Northrop Grumman reported a Q2 profit decline, BAE posted a loss despite producing the MRAPs being used in CENTCOM today, Lockheed Martin reported a decline, and General Dynamics reported a loss.

From Pyongyang to Tehran, with nukes

They already both share a stunna shade designer... could they share nuclear expertise with each other next?

This is an interesting take on North Korea. I think the article makes valid points, but what worries me the most, as stated by many other much more learned academics and practicioners than I, is how North Korea is unpredictable due to the psychoses of its "Dear Leader." Kim Jong Il is not mentally stable, whereas the leaders of the Soviet Union and United States during the Cold War were (I guess you can argue clutzy Ford might not have been due to the frequent concussions he gave himself or Reagan wasn't mentally stable towards the end of his second term, but both were still more stable and predictable than Kim). Meanwhile, Iran, while still a little unpredictable, isn't as bad as North Korea and is basically predictable. The Iranians talk a mean game, but we know and they know they, the Persians, are not well liked by the Arabs... I think part of the reason they always talk tough to Israel is just to gain favor with the world majority Sunni Arabs and Sunni Palestinians and maintain peace with the Arab world.

Anyhow, this article talks about the scary possibility of an Iranian-North Korean nuclear development deal. Here is an excerpt:

But it is what North Korea did not threaten that should give us greatest concern: expanded nuclear and missile cooperation with Iran. The two countries' abilities and needs are highly complementary, and past collaboration tells us that the diplomatic channels may be as well...

Of course, there is a terrifying way that North Korea could overcome its limitation while simultaneously helping another nuclear aspirant: It could work with Iran. Pyongyang lacks uranium centrifuge materials, technology, and know-how; Tehran has mastered them. Pyongyang has practical uranium metallurgy capabilities; Tehran has little. Pyongyang has its own nuclear test data; Tehran does not. Pyongyang knows all facets of plutonium technology; Tehran has little more than a plutonium-producing reactor under construction. Pyongyang helped Tehran establish a missile capability; now, Tehran's crash missile-test program and Pyongyang's long-range rocket tests could prove mutually beneficial.

Preventing escalation of nuclear and missile cooperation is critical to avoid destabilizing Northeast Asia and the Middle East. The urgency of this threat is underscored by North Korea's recent covert construction of a nuclear reactor in Syria and its extensive ongoing cooperation in missile technology with Iran. At least in its nuclear reach, Pyongyang isn't quite as isolated as it seems.

Kim Jong's Ill

김정일

Not many probably know how sick North Korea's "Dear Leader" is. Scenarios are continually bandied about hypothesizing that Kim has been dead for years and the person we see on television is a look-alike. Regardless, at some point, North Korea will either have to admit Kim is dead, tell the world how sick he really is, or pull him off of life support a la Dave. This brings up the question of succession. Sahil Mahtani does a great job going over the possible succession scenarios in the article "Kim Jong's Ill" from The New Republic. Below is an excerpt:

Hereditary succession would, under normal circumstances, be the most plausible outcome of a patrilineal regime like North Korea's. However, Kim's sons have been mostly absent from government, and seem to have ceded de facto authority to the powerful military and party bureaucracies that surround Kim. Keep in mind, said one experienced observer of North Korea affairs, "All of these guys were educated overseas [in Switzerland and the Soviet Union, for example]. They have no school chum network." In a closed society like North Korea, such ties are crucial if a leader is to have reins over his governing factions.

Yet while Mr. Kim's sons lack a strong power base, they have the genes. Which is to say, even if the military and party bureaucracies prove to be the stronger contenders for power during a succession struggle, one of Mr. Kim's sons is still likely to assume formal leadership. He may do so more as a figurehead, but he would nevertheless be a crucial conduit for the new ruling clique to acquire the legitimacy of the previous regime. According to the Korea observer noted above, "The most plausible model for what would happen next is for a member of the family to play a symbolic role, like the Japanese emperor. It may be that North Korea is headed towards, not a biological connection with the past, but a spiritual connection. After all, how many days do you spend worrying about the blood-pressure of the Japanese emperor?"

No matter who takes over North Korea, its nuclear arsenal, and the world's fifth largest standing army, the new leader will never be able to combine Miami Vice fashion and stunner shades as well as Kim Jong Il... below is a picture of the "Dear Leader" going retro chic and putting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's stunner shade picture to shame: