By Erik Crouch
Mr. Pak looks damn excited for his new position. Image via El Universal
‘Politician’ is not a particularly accurate word to describe most North Korean bureaucrats; ‘minion of Mr. Kim’ may be better, or perhaps ‘henchman’. Nevertheless, if the DPRK had politicians, Pak Pong-ju would be among them. The former premiere was dumped in 2007 for being “too capitalist“, but now he’s back, appointed by Kim Jong-un as the country’s new prime minister. While Pak is certainly not a democratic reformer (or any political shaker at all), it is believed that he favors Chinese-style economic reforms, which could potentially open up the country.
According to the LA Times:
The reemergence of Pak Pong Ju as premier at an annual spring parliamentary session is seen by analysts as a clear signal that leader Kim Jong Un is moving to back up recent statements vowing to focus on strengthened economic development. The U.N. says two-thirds of the country’s 24 million people face regular food shortages. […]
Pak’s appointment could be a message to the outside world that North Korea wants to calm tension and focus more on economic revitalization, said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea analyst at Seoul’s Dongguk University.
While Pak’s appointment is far from a peace offering, it may be a sign that the DPRK is willing to be less antagonistic on the peninsula. Or maybe Kim Jong-un is just rearranging the deckchairs before he drives his own personal Titanic into the iceberg of nuclear war.
North Koreans always look like they're on the verge of crying.
this writer can't even spell correctly. let's see how many people spot the obvious spelling mistake !!!
The current crop of nuclear scaremongering is a typical bait and switch strategy by Kim aimed primarily at his own people. By threatening nuclear war against the West, he minimises the chances that conservatives will call him out on selling out to the evil capitalists through reforms, thus maintaining his own power and portraying himself as a heroic 'wartime' leader to the masses.
North Korean Tommy Lee Jones!