All North Korean Communists are equal but some have clearly been more equal than others for several generations. Officially the short, fat, violent, weird hair styled Dear Leader is resting a broken ankle but suspicions are raised that someone broke his ankles for him. Given his track record this is not surprising - as he was always going to go the way other dictators have gone in the past.
In any event the relationship between North and South Korea appears to be improving and this can only be a good thing. I have just finished reading the Orphan Masters Son, the Pulitzer Prize Winning assessment of life in North Korea by Adam Johnson. It makes fascinating but terrifying reading - clearly North Korea is like Animal Farm meets Brave New World - with a lot of violence, and the potential for nuclear weapons use thrown in for good measure. In addition, Wednesdays article in the Times by Roger Boyes spells out the problems we face with one of the last of the truly communist states very well.
All of our safety depends upon a peaceful resolution of a North Korean descent ... from dictatorship to a slow path one day to democracy; what is clear is that without a managed exit the world will be facing a much more serious North Korean problem.
