The shock visit of a North Korean “troika” to South Korea to jump-start the stalled inter-Korean dialogue bewildered North Korea watchers worldwide – as the visit was obviously spontaneous and the North Korean motives are still unclear. It also called into question the whole concept of the Seoul’s policy towards its Northern neighbor.

This came on the heels of the rumors of Kim Jong Un’s health problems, which recently reinvigorated the discussion of a possible collapse of the Pyongyang regime and the need for South Korea to prepare itself to act swiftly in such a case. The purpose of the