Mick Hartley

A couple more North Korea items. First off, the unfortunate after-effects of the Dear Leader's stroke - those worrying misjudgements:

Kim Jong Il will turn 69 in the middle of next week. As is the case with any iron-fisted dictator, concerns over the judgment of an ageing leader grow larger as time passes, and the fact that Kim apparently suffered a stroke on August 14th, 2008 only makes those fears greater.

As a result, South Korean and international intelligence agencies have been observing Kim’s health closely for some time, particularly since the stroke, and are apparently confident that he has recovered to the extent of being able to carry out his daily tasks. However, it is widely rumored that he has been left lacking in judgment and with a much depleted memory. Indeed, a high official in the South Korean administration publicly asserted precisely that last year, adding that Kim is prone to talking completely illogically.

On this note, a source in China well-acquainted with the North Korean authorities introduced a few stories to The Daily NK.

First, the source described how a college’s name got changed, twice. In 2003, the North Korean media began reporting the name of what was Heecheon College of Technology in Jagang Province as Heechon College of Communications, but in 2009 suddenly began reporting the original name again.

The source said, “Kim Jong Il ordered the authorities to change the name to Heecheon College of Communications from Heechon College of Technology in 2003. However, when he visited there again in 2009, he couldn’t remember that fact and got angry, saying, ‘Who changed the College of Technology, which was named by the Suryeong (Kim Il Sung), to the College of Communications in such an inappropriate way for our times?’ Angrily, he handed down a new instruction, ‘Change the name back to Heecheon College of Technology without delay.’”

Even worse, in late 2009 Kim appears to have forgotten that his father had passed away 15 years earlier. According to the source, “In December, 2009 when he visited Sungjin Steel Manufacturing Complex in Kim Chaek, North Hamkyung Province, Kim received a report on the ‘Completion of the process for the manufacturing of Juche steel.’ Taking up the report, he said, ‘Report this fact immediately to the Suryeong!’ The people there were totally embarrassed.”

The source also revealed the unusual backdrop to images of Kim smoking in Hoiryeong Cigarette Factory in 2009.

Despite having revealed in 2001 that he had quit smoking, saying, “Smoking is like a gun aimed at your heart,” in February, 2009, Rodong Shinmun published photos of Kim smoking in the Hoiryeong factory. At the time, the international and South Korean media interpreted his actions as an attempt to show off his recovery from the stroke of little more than 6 months previously. However, the source explained that the truth was quite different, saying, “It was because Kim Jong Il was boasting about smoking, having forgotten the fact that he had quit!”  […]

As a result of their leader’s failing judgment, the source added that, understandably, “Cadres in Pyongyang are uneasy at Kim Jong Il’s unpredictable behavior.”

He explained, “Evidence of Kim Jong Il’s mental situation has been spreading despite the authorities’ complete control over information. This is partly because cadres who have witnessed it talk about his behavior with others, so the secrets continue to spread.”

And, here's what happens to all that food aid provided by the South Koreans:

The liberal Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations of South Korea provided North Korea with 400,000 to 500,000 tons of food aid per year to help ease food shortages. The North consumes an estimated 5.3 million tons of grain per year but produces just 4.2 million tons, incurring a deficit of 1 million tons every year. Food that Seoul provided to Pyongyang accounted for half of the deficit and hence was expected to significantly ease the hunger of North Koreans. No signs appeared, however, that the North Korean people benefited from South Korean food aid, a situation that posed a puzzle.

John Everard, who served as British ambassador to Pyongyang for two and half years from February 2006, has presented a clue to this puzzle. He told a seminar hosted by Korea Economic Institute of America in Washington that rice in sacks with labels marked "Republic of (South) Korea" or "World Food Program" was traded openly at black markets in North Korea. Food that South Korea and international aid organizations gave to the North are traded in black markets after being embezzled by those in power, including the Kim Jong Il family and power elites of the ruling Workers’ Party and military, rather than being distributed to North Koreans. This means the North`s power elite has been reaping double profits by taking advantage of the hunger of its impoverished people.