re: #227 Jay C

I’m not so sure about the “personal survival” bit, though: the NoKo regime has managed to keep itself in power for 70+ years thanks in no small part to that oversize military - and Fat Kim’s father and grandfather were leaders of a country that was pretty much a rogue nation (outside of the old Communist bloc). I can’t see the Nork military turning (yet) on a Leader who has managed - thanks to a semi-viable nuclear-arms program and Donald Trump’s idiot ego - to make the former pariah-state a (semi-)serious player on the world stage, and will probably end up successfully extorting billions of dollars and tons of prestige for the DPRK as a result.

Ceausescu got invited to a target shoot for basically running his country’s economy into the ground. And since “run into the ground” would probably be an upgrade for North Korea as it stands, it’s hard to see KJU suffering for improving things.

He already has improved things dramatically. Un has presided over the single greatest increase in North Korean standard of living in at least 60 years. Like Putin he benefits from a relatively recent low reference point, the famine of the 1990’s. He’s incredibly intelligent, focused and driven. He purposely studied and emulated the dynamic speaking style of his grandfather, which allowed him to distinguish himself early on from his father who apparently had a stutter and was rarely ever heard. He’s deeply loved by the people, and yes this is the result of decades of systemic brainwashing, but it also means the military absolutely needs Un as much as he needs them to hold onto power.