More Unverified Gossip from Mr. X

Norbert Vollertsen recently e-mailed from Rumor Control in Seoul and added a few splashes of 98 octane to the grill. Here are some unedited excerpts:

– increasing talkings from North Korean intelligence
officials about an surprise US preemptive attack…

Yeah, as well as that come-from-behind win for Kucinich at the Democratic convention, swiftly followed by his surpise marriage to Angelina Jolie. Judgment: Not bloody likely.

– There are some rumours among South Korean
NIS-officilas here that even a surprise little
“summit” could happen…

This is just what I’d expect from both sides of the DMZ, given that neither government has any real opposition and both would benefit from this. The Norks might think it shields them from a preventive strike or a public U.S. policy shift to regime change. On the other hand, the factionalism and paralyzing terror within the Nork government tends to, umm, derail even plans that make perfect sense. Judgment: 50% within three months.

– Ryongchon train desaster confirmed to have been an
assasination attempt on Kim Jong-IL according to
Russian diplomats in Pyongyang…

Well, not one of these rumors is verifiable for any of us among the hoi-polloi. And among all the foreign embassies in North Korea, the Russians’ is the hardest to rate on credibility. The Russians’ affinity for goofy conspiracy theories takes honorable mention, right after the Arabs and the Indymedia crowd. Still, they have lots of access to officialdom and of course, access to vodka to loosen their tongues. Judgment: unknowable, but the rumors are certainly coming from multiple sources, and that has a significance of its own. When news is suppressed, rumors can inspire panic, flight, hoarding, and even rebellion.