re: #529 Gus 802

There’s no reason, other than hope and wishful thinking, to believe that Jong-un will lead North Korea on a different path. Jong-il and the personality cult thoroughly indoctrinated the top levels of the North Korean security/political establishment. The gulag archipelago awaited those who wavered from the official line.

So, while we know that Jong-il enjoyed his Hennessey and video collections, he kept a tight grip on the Internet and external communications - effectively cutting the North Koreans off from the rest of the world.

Those policies are so far being continued by Jong-un and the coterie that is behind him (apparently his aunt and uncle). The military is backing Jong-un, and there’s no reason to believe that they’re going to do anything other than what they’ve done since Kim Song-il founded North Korea.

It would take a sea-change in political and cultural thought for North Korea to open up, whether its allowing Internet access (though most North Koreans are more worried about their next meal than who’s boffing who on tmz.com), or lowering the militarization along the DMZ.