Kim Jong-Eun still has a way to go to gain the adoration, much less acceptance, of the North Korean elites:

According to a high-level source, the nickname of Kim Jong-il’s heir, Kim Jong-Eun, is “the little one.” According to multiple sources, the North Korean elites officially call Kim Jong-Eun “the great leader” and “successor of the great accomplishments of the military-first policy,” but inofficially, Kim Jong-Eun is referred to as “the little one. “The little one” is usually used in North Korea to refer to children or younger siblings. It is also used to refer to a boss who does not have enough credentials.

Kim Jong-Il’s nickname is “pot belly.”

Did China oppose the succession of Kim Jong-Eun? While I can see reasons for China to oppose anything that would make North Korea a less stable puppet, I’m skeptical about any reports sources to high levels in the North Korean or Chinese regimes.

What is the likelihood of Kim Jong Il’s indictment in the international criminal court? Low, if it depends on governments taking action:

“Under ICC rules of procedure and evidence, it’s impossible for the court to investigate or indict North Korea on its own, because North Korea is not a signatory to the Rome Statute,” Kwon said. “But South Korea and Japan can ask the ICC to place Kim on trial if they are determined, because crimes like abuse of South Korean POWs and abduction of South Korean and Japanese citizens took place within the territories of the two countries, which are signatories to the Rome Statue and are within ICC jurisdiction.”

________________

Another report that South Korea will step up demands for the return of its abducted citizens.

A Korean expert suggests putting a time limit on the six-party talks to discourage North Korean stalling. Personally, I see much cosmetic value in the six-party talks, and I like the idea that there are open lines of communication — at least among the other five parties — in the event the Kim regime becomes unstable, or in the event that there’s a striking enough change in conditions that real progress becomes possible. That isn’t the case now, of course. But the answer isn’t to cut off diplomacy, it’s to invest our policy in the constriction and subversion of the regime while pretending to emphasize diplomacy. President Obama seems uniquely well postured to carry off that pretense credibly, if he’s smart enough to shift the emphasis of his policy toward more promising directions.

North Korea’s indigenous word processing software is called Changdeok 7.0:

Another Changdeok system indicating the absolute power of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-il are CTRL modifier keys. for “Kim Il-Sung” and for “Kim Jong-Il” are only modifier keys allowed in the Changdeok system These special characters and modifier keys is one side of Kim Il-Sung’s and Kim Jong-Il’s idolization. But, considering “Kim Il-Sung” and “Kim Jong-Il” in North Korean published works must be in bold text, special characters and modifier keys are for convenient editing processes as well.

Someone has managed to invent software even crappier than Vista. The lack of competition tends to have similar results in different places.

Some 56 percent of South Koreans have a negative view of North Korea and 70 percent feel threatened by the North’s nuclear arms, a poll suggests. But 87 percent support another inter-Korean summit. [....]

“The percentage of people with a negative view of the North in the latest poll is now as high as before the Sunshine Policy,” said Choi Jin-wook, a senior researcher at KINU. “It seems that the poll reflects how people were affected” by the North’s second nuclear test, long-range rocket launch, and an inter-Korean skirmish in the West Sea last year.

Some 90.8 percent of respondents said there is a “slim” chance that the North will abandon its nuclear weapons. Some 53.1 percent believe that there has been no big progress in inter-Korean relations while 15.8 percent said relations deteriorated. Some 51.5 percent hold the North responsible for the worse relations. A vast majority, or 80.3 percent, of respondents approved of the South Korean demand to investigate the fatal shooting of a South Korean tourist at Mt. Kumgang resort in July 2008 and promise prevention of similar incidents as preconditions for resuming package tours to Mt. Kumgang. [Chosun Ilbo]

The dissolution of the unifiction fad that peaked during my time in Korea relieving, but the distrust of North Korea and hatred of America aren’t mutually exclusive, either. South Korean public opinion is so unstable and fundamentally anti-American that it’s difficult for any South Korean president to behave like an ally of the United States, as opposed to a dependent. Probably the best that can be done is to slowly weed out and fire the teachers who continue to indoctrinate South Korean children with fascist ideology.

[Update: More from the Joongang Ilbo.]

Another sign that South Korea continues to move right: Park Geun-Hye is polling well for the next presidential election, which is still two years away. A lot can change in two years in Korea. []

More evidence that the sanctions are working: weapons interdictions are certainly a good thing, but my suspicion is that Treasury’s warnings to financial institutions are having the greatest impact.

North Korea can’t keep the lights on at night or feed its people, but somehow, it finds the money to buy expensive gear to detect and jam cell phones, and the electricity to run it:

One defector, who uses the alias Han Kyung Il, was previously in contact with relatives in Onsung-kun, North Hamgyong province, in North Korea.

“The North Korean authorities are jamming cell phone signals, and it is practically impossible to make a call,” he said in an interview. “You can switch phone cards, and the call appears to go through, but nobody in North Korea picks up.

North Korea also appears to have made overseas purchases of expensive cell phone tracking and jamming equipment, which it has installed at various locations in Shinuiju, Hyesan, and Hweryong in the border area near China, according to North Koreans living in border areas as well as those in South Korea.

North Koreans in the border areas–still reeling from a recent currency devaluation that wiped out many people’s savings–say this new difficulty in communications has made it harder to request much needed assistance from North Korean defectors in South Korea. [Radio Free Asia]

___________________

North Korea releases census data: While there’s little reason for confidence in any data compiled by the North Korean regime itself, there’s a nice hat tip to Curtis at the end.

Another earthquake in North Korea’s far northeast.

More on the penetration of North Korea by independent journalism.

A moving “mission accomplished” essay, from someone who fought and endured loss to accomplish it.

Anti-Semitic incidents are now at their highest level since World War II.

Two must-read articles in Foreign Policy by my friend Professor Sung Yoon Lee, on the topics of Kim Jong Il’s mortality and how to manage North Korea’s reconstruction. I don’t agree with all of the ideas, but they’re well worth reading. I wish I had time to analyze them in more depth, but I haven’t had time to so much as skim them myself yet.

Been meaning to link this one for a few days — Kushibo notes that President Lee is starting to show some spine on getting back South Korean abductees and POW’s from the North. In short, Lee is acting like what DJ and Roh weren’t — statesmanlike leaders who protect their country’s citizens.

A former North Korean agent claims to have met Megumi Yokota in North Korea.

Open News’s post-mortem on The Great Confiscation.

Electricity shortages are delaying train service.

A report and Open News’s analysis on the state forcing trading companies to merge. It seems to be a more incremental approach to the war against capitalism, but given previous reports that influential figures control or profit from these trading companies, there could be unintended consequences.