Thread: Kim Jong-Il is dead

Originally Posted by Officer of Engineers

The cracks are showing

No matter how much the Kims tried, they cannot erase Korean culture. With that comes respect for the age, and disdain for the young foolhardy.

This call for unity shows that there is absolutely no respect from the rank and file for baby Kim.

just saw this.



By Julian Ryall in Tokyo

8:58AM GMT 24 Jan 2012
China 'protecting Kim Jong-nam' - Telegraph

The elder Kim, who lives in exile in Beijing and Macao, said in interviews for a book released on January 20 that he feels "suffocated" in the Chinese capital because he is never alone.

"If there is trouble anywhere near him, he said that suddenly a number of people appear around him," said Yoji Gomi, a journalist and author of 'My Father, Kim Jong-il, and I: Kim Jong-nam's Exclusive Confession'.

"Even when nothing is happening, he feels their presence," Gomi added. "He said he does not know if he is being protected or monitored, but it is always like that."

It appears that China is taking care of him for its own aims, he added.

"Having the son of the former leader of a neighbouring country under their protection could be a political card that the Chinese could use at some time in the future," he said.
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Interviewed over the space of seven years, via email and in person, Kim expressed high hopes for North Korea, although the three main points he voiced after the death of his father in December are unlikely to have been welcomed in Pyongyang.

Kim expressed fear that the country is being run by an inexperienced young man who is likely to be acting at the behest of other forces, and that without economic reforms similar to those carried out in China, he could fall from power. Secondly, he voiced strong opposition to the hereditary transfer of power to his half-brother – and claims his father had been equally against the idea not long ago – as it runs completely counter to socialist philosophy. And, finally, he is a strong advocate of a "people-first" policy, instead of the North's present "military-first" ideal.

Kim also gave the impression of being genuinely concerned about the future of his homeland – not an accusation that can be levelled at other senior members of a regime that, if some reports are to be believed, spends the nation's wealth on sumptuous palaces, private yachts and trains, as well as the finest food and drink that money can buy.

"I got the impression that he was a person you could talk to, someone you could have as a friend, someone you could trust," said Gomi, who struck up a friendship with Kim after a chance encounter in Beijing Airport.

There were some issues that Kim was unwilling to discuss with Gomi, including the state of his father's health, his relationship with the rest of the leadership in Pyongyang, the North's nuclear ambitions, military issues or the abduction of Japanese nationals. He was also reluctant to go into the reason that, it has been speculated, was the cause of him falling out of favour with his father and his half-brother eventually inheriting a post that he had reportedly groomed for.

Kim was arrested in May 2001 trying to enter Japan on a forged Dominican Republic passport with two women and a boy aged 4, telling police that he wanted to visit Disneyland. To Gomi, he also revealed that Kim Jung-on and other senior North Koren officials had travelled on forged passports frequently, but that came to a halt after his own – very public and humiliating – arrest.

How very curious.

China can enter P`yang in 2 hours in case of contingency`

China is strengthening the mobility of its troops dispatched to the border with North Korea to prepare for contingencies in the North, according to a leading Japanese daily.

In a feature titled “The Analysis of the Chinese Armed Forces” Sunday, the Asahi Shimbun quoted a Chinese military source as saying, “Our military’s mobility is being enhanced. If a contingency erupts in the North, we can enter Pyongyang in about two hours.” The daily, however, said both the Chinese military and the government have officially denied the prospect of troop dispatch to the North for control of nuclear weapons and maintaining of public order in case of contingency.

According to Asahi, the Academy of Military Science, the highest think tank of the People`s Liberation Army of China, established a task force for risk control of the Korean Peninsula in 2007, when the health of then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il began deteriorating, and the task force drew up a secret report in 2010.

The report defined the Korean Peninsula as an area inseparable from China’s national security because the large number of North Korean refugees will affect all of China and North Korea acts as a buffer between South Korea, where U.S. forces are stationed. Accordingly, the report urged the collection and reporting of information on the North to the Chinese government.

The report also urged strict management of media and the Internet to prevent northeastern regions of China, which share a border with the North, from falling into confusion due to unfounded rumors. In addition, the task force said a simple misunderstanding and confusion vis-a-vis the North’s nuclear weapons development can lead to all-out war on the Korean Peninsula, adding, “The first goal is to swiftly prevent nuclear proliferation should the situation in the North become fluid.”

The Japanese daily said the alliance between Beijing and Pyongyang had turned sour due to the North’s nuclear test, but bilateral relations began recovering in the latter half of 2009. China is refusing to conduct joint military drills with North Korea or sell its state-of-the-art fighter J-10 to the Stalinist country.

donga.com[English donga]

But how will the 15th ABC get there in two hours time, most likely in a hostile entrance situation? China certainly won't prop up North Korea with troops the next time the Third pulls off another Cheonan.

Fly with the USAF?

Originally Posted by Skywatcher

How very curious.



But how will the 15th ABC get there in two hours time, most likely in a hostile entrance situation? China certainly won't prop up North Korea with troops the next time the Third pulls off another Cheonan.

Fly with the USAF?

It is most likely a bluff , however a bluff the Third does not have enough chips to call.

Originally Posted by Skywatcher

But how will the 15th ABC get there in two hours time, most likely in a hostile entrance situation? China certainly won't prop up North Korea with troops the next time the Third pulls off another Cheonan.

Fly with the USAF?

There's only one way this can be done. Several North Korean armies are in Chinese pockets.

The Origianal Article

ANALYSIS: Chinese military on edge after death of Kim Jong Il - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun

January 23, 2012

By KENJI MINEMURA / Correspondent

BEIJING--China, fearful that North Korea could be plunged into turmoil following the death of Kim Jong Il, is casting a watchful eye over its longtime yet unpredictable ally in case its own national security is threatened.

In late December, Chinese President Hu Jintao told senior military officials not to let their guard down for fear of unexpected armed conflict breaking out. He was apparently concerned about instability in North Korea following the Dec. 17 death of Kim Jong Il.

“The national security environment around our country is complicated and rapidly changing,” Hu, who chairs the Central Military Commission, was quoted as telling an expanded meeting of its members. “We need to further advance our preparations for a military combat.”

Hu was addressing representatives from the military regions of the People’s Liberation Army, gathered at the August 1st Building in central Beijing, known as China’s Pentagon.

The Central Military Commission, the PLA’s top decision-making body, holds an expanded meeting only when the international situation changes or when it decides on key personnel appointments. In principle, the meeting is held behind closed doors.

The situation on the Korean Peninsula after the death of the North Korean leader was one of the key agenda items, according to Chinese military sources. The participants included officials from the Shenyang Military Region, which is in charge of the area around the border with North Korea.

China had been paying close attention to Kim Jong Il’s health, fearing a prolonged period of instability as his third son, Kim Jong Un, prepared to take over.

Kim Jong Il traveled to China on four occasions from 2010 to 2011. It was generally believed that Kim Jong Il was recovering from a stroke he suffered in summer 2008.

But China learned that his health condition had actually worsened some months earlier, according to sources familiar with China-North Korea relations.

The PLA played a key role in gathering information on Kim Jong Il.

For example, heart and brain experts at the PLA General Hospital, said to be China’s top medical institution, examined his medical records and X-rays and gave advice at the request of North Korea, sources said.

The Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang learned that something unusual had happened because senior North Korean government officials were summoned on the night of Dec. 17.

On Dec. 18, a day before Kim Jong Il’s death was announced, China was unofficially informed of the development by North Korea through the North Korean Embassy in Beijing and the Chinese Embassy.

During his visit to China in May 2010, Kim had promised Hu that North Korea would inform China when important domestic issues arose.

China gathered information on Pyongyang's leadership through the PLA General Staff Department and the Communist Party after it was notified of the death of Kim Jong Il.

Chinese officials concluded that North Korea was unlikely to resort to military provocations, such as nuclear tests, in the immediate future, sources said.

The decision was based on an observation that Jang Song Thaek, vice chairman of the National Defense Commission and Kim Jong Il’s brother-in-law, had taken Kim Jong Un under his wing and that Ri Yong Ho, chief of the general staff at the Korean People’s Army and an ally of Jang, had a firm grip on the military, the sources said.

But some senior military officials in Pyongyang are believed to be unhappy at the swiftness of the transfer of authority orchestrated by Kim Jong Il to a new generation of military officials to smooth over the succession of power to his son.

“How to stabilize the situation in the coming six months will be the make-or-break issue,” a Chinese military source said.

The PLA did not redeploy its forces after Kim Jong Il’ death was announced.

According to diplomatic sources in Beijing, U.S. satellite photographs of the northeastern provinces of Liaoning and Jilin, which border North Korea, showed PLA forces in their usual positions on Dec. 19.

According to some media reports, China dispatched about 2,000 troops to border areas, but a military source denied this.

“Exactly because the timing is sensitive, we should not provoke North Korea by moving our army unnecessarily,” the source said.

The calm response was based on a 2010 confidential report from the Academy of Military Science.

The PLA think tank set up a group to study how to manage a crisis on the Korean Peninsula in 2007, when Kim Jong Il’s declining health first became apparent.

The report, compiled mainly by Col. Li Xiaodong at the academy’s world military studies department, described the peninsula as an important area that is inseparable from China’s national security.

It concluded that the most important issue is not to provoke North Korea, citing the maintenance of peace and security on the Korean Peninsula as the basic principle.

China fears that it might be flooded with refugees in the event of a crisis. North Korea also serves as a buffer zone between China and South Korea, where U.S. troops are stationed.

The report also said North Korea’s nuclear development program “could lead to an all-out war if there was the slightest misunderstanding, confusion or provocation.”

It said the "top priority is to immediately prevent nuclear proliferation” if the situation in North Korea becomes unstable.

Officially, both the PLA and the government have denied the possibility that China would send its troops to North Korea to put its nuclear facilities under control or regain order in times of crisis.

However, a military source said: “Our forces have enhanced mobility. We will be able to enter Pyongyang in a little more than two hours if necessary.”

China and North Korea are said to be in an “alliance sealed in blood” since China dispatched soldiers to North Korea after the Korean War broke out in 1950.

The two countries concluded a mutual aid and cooperation friendship treaty, under which each country is required to provide military support when the other comes under attack.

A delegation of senior military leaders, including Liang Guanglie, minister of national defense, and Ma Xiaotian, PLA deputy chief of staff, made a condolence visit to the North Korean Embassy in Beijing on Dec. 27.

“The PLA, with the Korean People’s Army, will actively work to solidify and develop the traditional relationship of cooperation and friendship between the two countries and the two military forces,” Xu Caihon, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and head of the delegation, said.

But a military source in Beijing said Xu stressed the close ties between the two military forces partly “to send a message that China will not let North Korea take military action on its own.”

A source at a military think tank also said: “The emphasis on friendly relations is the flip side of the tensions that exist. The two military forces have deep distrust in each other.”

China and North Korea became estranged after Pyongyang conducted underground nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, notifying Beijing only immediately beforehand.

China has consistently opposed North Korea's decision to acquire nuclear capability for fear of nuclear warfare breaking out between the United States and North Korea and also giving Japan a rationale to go nuclear, according to Col. Yang Guanghai at the PLA institute of international studies.

China suspended military exchanges and energy-related support because the tests “would have an adverse impact on the six-party talks and hurt the international reputation of China as chair of the talks,” Yang said.

China reactivated military exchanges in the latter half of 2009, when North Korea started full-scale preparations for the succession of power.

In 2011, China and North Korea sent reciprocal missions led by senior military officials on seven occasions, following five such visits each in both 2010 and 2009.

North Korean delegations included Kim Jong Gak, of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army, and other senior officials said to be close to Kim Jong Un, apparently reflecting the PLA’s wish to strengthen ties with next-generation military leaders.

Despite recent improvements, certain limits have been placed on cooperation between the two military forces.

For example, the PLA has not conducted a joint exercise with the Korean People’s Army.

According to sources close to China-North Korea relations, North Korea asked China to provide Chinese-made J-10 fighter jets and other weapons, but Beijing did not accept the request.

By KENJI MINEMURA / Correspondent

Several things about the article. The Chinese did not have to move troops to the border because the troops are already there. Their two top armies, the 38th and 39th Group Armies have been maintaining a presence there since the first nuke test.

The quote that the PLA can be within Pyongpang within 2 hours, even with friendly North Kroean Armies meant the supplies, planes, plans, as well as men are already poised to do so.

There's no need to move additional troops into the area.

Kim Jong-Il's Former Sushi Chef Reveals Former Supreme Leader's Favorite Fish
Albert Siegel

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Jake Adelstein and Nathalie-Kyoko Stucky 1,559 Views Dec 6, 2012

The world knows so little about the inner workings of the North Korean regime that the appearance of Kim Jong-Il's former sushi chef at a press conference held here at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Japan — well, it was bound to get scrutinized for shreds of new information. For instance, how old is the new young ruler of the Hermit Kingdom?

Kenji Fujimoto, the alias of the Japanese sushi chef who spent more than a decade being the official cook of the North Korean dictator and his cohorts — and who recently returned to visit the North Korean dictators’ family — revealed Kim Jog-un's date of birth as January 8, 1983. Until now, not even The New York Times didn't know that. Now the whole world can wish him a happy 3-0 next year.

After the press conference, in an exclusive ten-second interview with The Atlantic Wire, Mr. Fujimoto also revealed Kim Jong-Il's favorite sushi.

"Definitely, Toro. Toro (fatty tuna) was his favorite." This revelation sheds light on why the Supreme Leader was a little chubby. Maybe.

After serving as the Kims's sushi chef, Fujimoto fled North Korea by supposedly visiting Japan in 2001 to "purchase food supplies," but he never returned. Fujimoto does say, however, that he personally promised Kim Jong-Un, then a pudgy teenager believed to have attended high school in Switzerland from age 13 to 16, that he would come to North Korea some day.

Earlier this year, Fujimoto told The New York Times that he adopted his alias because of fear of retaliation from Japanese right-wing extremists for his "appearing friendly with a nation that abducted Japanese citizens in the 1970s and ‘80s."

Fujimoto was also living in the fear of being killed by North Korean agents for returning to Japan and writing a book exposing the North Korean leaders’ luxurious lifestyle. However, on June 16 last year, "a messenger from North Korea" showed up at his door to tell him his family in North Korea missed him. He was also told that there was another individual who missed him deeply, the current ruler of the country, little Kim Jong-Un.

After holding suspicions about a file sent through the messenger by the North Korean National Defense Minister, he finally agreed to return to North Korea to meet Kim during a two weeks visit this past July.

Kim Jong-Un arranged the the first meeting with his sushi chef after 11 years of absence as banquet for him in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. Kim Jong-Un invited "family related friends rather than politicians," Mr. Fujimoto said.

When the doors of the meeting hall opened and revealed Kim Jong-Un, Fujimoto immediately embraced him and wept, apologizing for being a "traitor." The new leader apparently forgave him.

Fujimoto said he had last seen the young dictator when he was only 18 years old; he was impressed with how Jong-Un had grown up into a young adult who seemed to be very optimistic about tackling the various economic issues of his country and who wished to improve the life conditions of his people.

"What struck me the most during my visit to Pyongyang was to see how happy people looked in the street," Fujimoto said. "I think Kim Jong-Un would like to reach out and shake hands with the USA."

Fujimoto says that the North Korean leader is "no exception" among world leaders in his choice to enjoy a luxurious life while the people of his country are poor. He said he hardly understood why the North Korea leadership is harshly criticized for this.

The word of a sushi chef aside, there still remains plenty of mystery about Kim Jong-un's biography, including his time abroad in Switzerland. Unlike the United States and France, Switzerland has semi-cordial relations with the hermit kingdom. However, the director of the school in Koenig, in the suburbs of the country’s capital of Bern, told the Japanese press that "the North Korean student who attended his school was not enrolled under the name Kim Jong-un."

However, the child in the class portrait obtained by a reporter from Mainichi, resembled the current dictator very strongly. Several Swiss classmates told Japanese reporters that "the North Korean boy used Sony mini-discs" and "kept posters of former American basketball super stars in his room."

According to Fujimoto, Kim Jong-un now likes to play with bigger toys. He said he expects Kim Jong-un to launch North Korea's next rocket on December 17, the first anniversary of his father's death. It has been widely reported that North Korea is preparing to once again show its military might to the world by launching a rocket this month.

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Topics: Kim Jong-Un, Kim Jong-Il, Kenji Fujimoto, Kim Jong-Il, North Korea