A North Korean message to the world?

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So, what message is Kim trying to send almost a year after his father's death? And how should the world respond?

As I have mentioned whatever message the Kim Family Regime is trying to send the world, the message we should receive is that the north cannot and will not change and it is incapable of functioning as a responsible member of the international community. It will continue to proliferate WMD and missile technology and conduct blackmail diplomacy in pursuit of political and economic concessions. The institutional structure that has been built in the north is one that is solely focused on perpetuating the existence of the Kim Family Regime and there is no other vital interest.  Carrots and sticks have little to no effect but in the end because of the nature of the regime it cannot and will not change. We have to understand that this as we move forward in trying to implement the the 2009 Joint Vision Statement and even thought the desired end state is peaceful unification of the Peninsula we must now see with very clear eyes how the north will play its hand.  But to those who think there could be change to the nature of the regime know that to understand the regime we should study its history and should be reminded of the lyrics from the Talking Heads - "same as it ever was."  Now let's move on.

V/R
Dave

A North Korean message to the world?

We ask how the world should react to Kim Jong-un's long-range rocket launch after barely a year in the top job. http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2012/12/2012121385948687580.html Inside Story Last Modified: 13 Dec 2012 10:38 inShare Email Print Share Feedback

North Korea has successfully launched a long-range rocket which it says was designed to put a weather satellite into orbit. "The launch surely has a primary purpose, given the timing, of influencing South Korean presidential elections. There are a majority of South Koreans who do not want any kind of conflict with the North .... The North Korean goal quite clearly is to persuade South Korean voters they're better off with a president who is willing to engage with the North, than one who is not." - Paul Chamberlin, a former US military attache to Seoul The move sparked an international outcry, with the US, South Korea and Japan saying it was a test of technology that could, one day, be used to deliver a nuclear warhead. North Korea followed what it said was a similar successful launch in 2009 with a nuclear test that prompted the UN Security Council to stiffen sanctions that it originally imposed in 2006 after the country's first nuclear test. North Korea is banned from developing nuclear and missile-related technology under UN resolutions. The man at North Korea's helm, Kim Jong-un, has been in office barely a year but he has been making his mark. (Continued at the link below) http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2012/12/2012121385948687580.html