Mick Hartley

For all those getting excited about the thaw in inter-Korean relations, and the North's willingness to talk to the US as communicated to President Moon by Kim Yong Chol, this is worth consideration:

Communicating through the North Korean delegation’s recent visit to South Korea, leader Kim Jong Un conveyed a message that his country has “enough” willingness to engage in talks with the US. Internal sources, however, report that a signed memo has been dispatched within the country saying that the regime has no intention of restarting meaningful dialogue. 

“On February 22, a signed memo [by Kim Jong Un] was handed down to the party cadres on the topic of Kim Yong Chol. The message contradicts the one being communicated to the outside world. The memo says that there is no intention to engage in dialogue with the American imperialists and that South Josun [South Korea] will not act as an intermediary," a high-ranking source in Pyongyang told Daily NK on March 2.   

  The memo also emphasizes the fact that North Korea will never surrender its nuclear weapons, stating, "We [North Korea] will not make compromises with or even acknowledge powers that do not recognize our nuclear weapons and missiles.”  

Well, we knew that the North would never abandon its nuclear weapons, and the US has said it it won't talk unless there's a commitment from Pyongyang to disarm, so there's nothing new here really. It was always hot air.

Meanwhile Joshua Stanton explains why the proposed White House policy of stopping and searching ships suspected of breaking the sanctions on North Korea – as revealed in a Reuters exclusive – might in fact be a good idea.

And, while it very probably signals nothing more than that Kim Jong-un is taking a break or is otherwise indisposed, I can't help noticing that the Supreme Leaders Activities, given pride of place on the front page of the official Rodong Sinmun news agency, hasn't been updated since the middle of last month – nearly three weeks ago. That's very unusual. Normally he's out and about every day, giving advice to the Hungdongg fish farm or the Kungbotbong steel complex, or just generally looking at things. His last appearance was at the Kumsusan Palace of Sun, on the occasion of "the birth anniversary of leader Kim Jong Il (the Day of the Shining Star), the national greatest auspicious holiday to pay high tribute to him":

Does he look a bit peaky? A bit worried perhaps, surrounded by men with that lean and hungry look?

Maybe not, but if it turns out that the Young Marshal has suffered a fatal heart attack, or been quietly overthrown in a coup – well, you read it here first.

Update: Shame – he's back in action – meeting a group of "special envoys" from South Korea. They look an inspiring bunch:

According to the Times, the guests included Suh Hoon, head of South Korea’s spy agency, and Chung Eui-yong, the national security chief.

What's the head of South Korea's spy agency doing, meeting Kim Jong-un? Handing over a list of agents?