This is certainly one example where we should pay close attention to north Korean propaganda (we always should of course but in this case what it is saying is absolutely accurate):
“To expect ‘policy change’ and ‘reform and opening’ from (North Korea) is nothing but a foolish and silly dream, just like wanting the sun to rise in the west,” the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a July statement quoted by the country’s official Korean Central News Agency.
“This is the height of ignorance,” the commentary said.
V/R
Dave
New North Korean leader following in footsteps of predecessors
By JON RABIROFF AND YOO KYONG CHANG
Stars and Stripes
Published: December 10, 2012
SEOUL — When Kim Jong Un took over North Korea last year, some saw the possibility of change in a reclusive country that has been a thorn in the side of the world, hoping he might shift away from the policies of confrontation pursued by his father and grandfather.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went as far as urging Kim at one point to take advantage of the opportunity, saying: “This young man … could go down in history as a transformative leader.”
However, while Kim has made some high-profile breaks with the past during his first 12 months in power, the North’s recently announced plan to launch a satellite in the coming days appears to cement what U.S. officials have suspected all along — that the younger Kim’s regime is essentially just a new generation version of the same provocative and iron-handed rule of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung.
The North announced that, sometime between Dec. 10 and 22, it would attempt to launch a satellite, a move U.S. officials believe is simply a cover to test missile capabilities. North Korea made a similar launch attempt in April that failed.
Washington, which made it clear months ago that it has tired of waiting for signs of positive change, has condemned the planned launch.
Earlier this year, the U.S. agreed with Japan to increase its missile-defense capabilities in the Pacific, reportedly in large part because of the threat North Korea continues to pose to the region.
Similarly, North Korea watchers dismiss many of the changes Kim has made thus far as an effort to pacify possible public dissent, not in changing the country’s dealings with the outside world.
“Kim is showing he is open to, and forward-looking, when it comes to the economy and sociocultural issues,” said Yoo Ho-yeol, a North Korean studies professor at the Sejong Campus of Korea University.
(Continued at the link below)
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