Kim Jong Nam

Come on in. Grab a seat. Let's talk politics.

Me and politics haven't been to close recently, we've been in a test seperation period, seeing other anthropomorphic theoretical paradigms, super-intelligent shades of the colour blue, whatever. But this morning I got to thinking about the old ball and chain again. And here's why.

The eldest known son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has left his residence in Macau and is in Beijing preparing to travel to Pyongyang for his father's 65th birthday, South Korean media reported on Monday. (CNN)

The article goes on to talk about how this prodigal son, Kim Jong Nam, has fallen out with his father over a botched attempt to get into Japan on a forged Dominican passport, (he says he wanted to go to Tokyo Disneyland) and is no longer named as the successor. Moreover, he has been the target of at least two assassination attempts. Kim Jong Il, getting on at 65, has been mumbling about passing on his rule to a military junta, and has set up an Obama-style investigatory committee to this end.



And that's not even considering the implications of the son of one of two remaining communist dictators in the world being permitted to carry on his playboy lifestyle in an international gambling centre in Chinese territory. I hadn't realized before the degree to which the Chinese and North Korean governments were, uhm, interwoven. It also indicates that Great Leader Kim considers his first born expendable. It also adds a new twist to old news like this:

"It's another piece of the puzzle," said Jorge Godinho, an anti-money
laundering expert at University of Macau.

Macau is where North Korea did most of its international banking until late
2005, when Washington accused the city's Banco Delta Asia of helping Pyongyang
launder money and engage in other illicit activities, and threatened to take
action.

The Macau government, under U.S. pressure, froze $24 million in North
Korea-linked accounts, prompting Pyongyang to boycott the six-way talks for over
a year until December. (Reuters)

The Reuters article also has a more detailed breakdown of the dynstic tribulations in the hermit kingdom. It's fairly fascinating.

Anyway, I think that's about all the time I have today. My parents and sister are back in Toronto and I am so far behind on my thesis paper it's not even Seinfeld.

Next time: Chinese bio-fuel plantations in Africa!