When discussing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea we have a tendency to obsess over images of colorful parades, mass games and relayed grainy images of missiles being launched into a technicolor sky. Cut to Hillary Clinton wearing an awkward coat and peering through a Soviet-era pair of binoculars and you have your average formulaic bit of reportage on North Korea, set to a soundtrack of revolutionary music whilst an “analyst” explains why the state is a threat and why Kim Jong Un is too young to prevent it from collapsing.
But all we actually know about Kim Jong Un is that he’s young, he’s a bit fat, and he looks like his Grandfather. How, exactly, we use these facts to ascertain what policy decisions he may or may not make remains a mystery that few seem to be trying to solve.
When discussing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea we have a tendency to obsess over images of colorful parades, mass games and relayed grainy images of missiles being launched into a technicolor sky. Cut to Hillary Clinton wearing an awkward coat and peering through a Soviet-era pair of binoculars and you have your average formulaic bit of reportage on North Korea, set to a soundtrack of revolutionary music whilst an “analyst” explains why the state is a threat and why Kim Jong Un is too young to prevent it from collapsing.
But all we actually know about Kim Jong Un is that he’s young, he’s a bit fat, and he looks like his Grandfather. How, exactly, we use these facts to ascertain what policy decisions he may or may not make remains a mystery that few seem to be trying to solve.
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