ID :
40850
Thu, 01/15/2009 - 20:18
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/40850
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea not likely to collapse: Seoul think tank
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Yonhap) -- There is little possibility of a regime collapse in
North Korea despite doubts over leader Kim Jong-il's long-term viability and
growing social distress, a Seoul think tank said.
Speculation has swirled about North Korea's stability since Kim's reported stroke
in August last year. He remained out of the public eye for weeks, but Seoul and
Washington officials say he is now recovering and in full command.
"Protracted economic woes have weakened social discipline and stirred discontent
among North Korea's citizens, but the predominant view is that it is an
overreaction to read these as signs pointing to North Korea's collapse," the
Korea Institute for National Unification said in a report.
But suspicions about Kim's health remain. A North Korean television station has
yet to release its regular documentary film on its leader, usually aired during
the first week of each year. It aired on Jan. 6 in 2008, but so far only a
collection of photos has appeared on Korean Central Television this year.
Unification Minister Kim Ha-joong said Kim appeared to be in full command, citing
recent photos released by North Korea's media outlets, but admitted no one can be
entirely sure about what goes on inside the secretive state.
"No one knows if the photos are genuine. But they seem to be, according to the
assessments of many people and the circumstances," he told a group of reporters
on Wednesday.
State media continued reporting Kim's inspection tours to industrial plants into
the new year, portraying him as healthy and leading the way in the country's
renewed economic drive.
A Seoul nuclear envoy is set to arrive in North Korea later Thursday to discuss
the possible purchase of unused fuel rods stored at Pyongyang's main nuclear
plant. The visit by Hwang Joon-kook, the first ranking official under the
conservative Lee Myung-bak administration to be invited by Pyongyang, also raised
hopes that frozen inter-Korean relations may slowly begin to thaw.
Concerning North Korea's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction, the
think tank said Pyongyang had operated a biochemical weapons program beginning in
the 1960s and their actual production is believed to have started in the 1980s.
North Korea has roughly 2,500 to 5,000 tons of nerve agents stored across the
country and is capable of producing biological weapons such as anthrax, smallpox
and cholera, the think tank said.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Yonhap) -- There is little possibility of a regime collapse in
North Korea despite doubts over leader Kim Jong-il's long-term viability and
growing social distress, a Seoul think tank said.
Speculation has swirled about North Korea's stability since Kim's reported stroke
in August last year. He remained out of the public eye for weeks, but Seoul and
Washington officials say he is now recovering and in full command.
"Protracted economic woes have weakened social discipline and stirred discontent
among North Korea's citizens, but the predominant view is that it is an
overreaction to read these as signs pointing to North Korea's collapse," the
Korea Institute for National Unification said in a report.
But suspicions about Kim's health remain. A North Korean television station has
yet to release its regular documentary film on its leader, usually aired during
the first week of each year. It aired on Jan. 6 in 2008, but so far only a
collection of photos has appeared on Korean Central Television this year.
Unification Minister Kim Ha-joong said Kim appeared to be in full command, citing
recent photos released by North Korea's media outlets, but admitted no one can be
entirely sure about what goes on inside the secretive state.
"No one knows if the photos are genuine. But they seem to be, according to the
assessments of many people and the circumstances," he told a group of reporters
on Wednesday.
State media continued reporting Kim's inspection tours to industrial plants into
the new year, portraying him as healthy and leading the way in the country's
renewed economic drive.
A Seoul nuclear envoy is set to arrive in North Korea later Thursday to discuss
the possible purchase of unused fuel rods stored at Pyongyang's main nuclear
plant. The visit by Hwang Joon-kook, the first ranking official under the
conservative Lee Myung-bak administration to be invited by Pyongyang, also raised
hopes that frozen inter-Korean relations may slowly begin to thaw.
Concerning North Korea's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction, the
think tank said Pyongyang had operated a biochemical weapons program beginning in
the 1960s and their actual production is believed to have started in the 1980s.
North Korea has roughly 2,500 to 5,000 tons of nerve agents stored across the
country and is capable of producing biological weapons such as anthrax, smallpox
and cholera, the think tank said.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
