Jang.

This is coolbert:

Here from the Chicago Tribune today, some North Korean stuff:

"Kim associate's rise is gaining notice"

"N. Korean leader's brother-in-law seen as succession player"

Jang Song Taek recently emerged as a decisive player in the drama of who might succeed the ailing 67-year-old Kim.

KIM JONG IL DOES NOT LOOK WELL AT ALL! WAS "RUMORED TO BE SICK, AND APPARENTLY WAS! THE MOST LATEST APPEARANCE OF THE MAN SHOWED A MUCH DRAWN FIGURE, UNWELL, LOST A LOT OF WEIGHT, HAGGARD!

And the man of the hour now is the brother-in-law, Jang!

But only as a caretaker?

Kim still gives the orders and makes the decisions, Jang is entrusted to carry them out?

"'North Korea is a Confucian society wedded to clan and tribe. Kim Jong Il believes only blood clan can continue the dynasty - - and that means one of his three sons'"

This too - - is very typical of the way the outside world understands North Korea and appreciates the real "goings-on" within the communist dictatorship.

"Gaining intelligence from inside reclusive North Korea has been a matter of guess-work, analysts said."

"'There is very little credible information.' said Andreei Lankov, a political scientists at Seoul's Kookmin University"

NOT ONLY VERY LITTLE THAT DOES EXIST - - BUT THAT WHAT YOU DO HAVE MAY HAVE BEEN DELIBERATELY FED TO YOU AS PART OF AN ELABORATE AND VERY CLEVER DISINFORMATION AND DECEPTION PLAN!! WHAT INFO YOU DO HAVE OR WHAT IS PRESENTED TO YOU HAS TO BE EVALUATED WITH A CONSTANT DEGREE OF SKEPTICISM!!

Historically, Korea was called the, "Hermit Kingdom". Stand-offish, hermetically sealed, so to speak, in a purposeful manner, not interacting but in the most marginal way with the rest of the world.

Kim - - too - - HAS THREE SONS. Jang, according to this Tribune article - - is said : "to back the youngest, 26-year-old Jong Un, as successor."

OH, that will be great! The youngest is the favorite of the caretaker? That might very well set off some real bloodshed. In the historical manner of the eastern potentates, a family succession was usually settled by the sons fighting it out TO THE DEATH, THE REMAINING SURVIVOR ASSUMING POWER, continuing rule with an IRON HAND!!

And this - - for a nation that possesses nuclear weapons!!

coolbert.