Wake Me Up When There’s an Unscheduled Military ‘Parade’

The latest report on Kim Jong Il’s condition — for what it’s worth — is that he is recovering but partially paralyzed on his left side.

Foreign doctors, possibly from China and France, performed the operation after Kim, 66, collapsed about Aug. 15, the newspapers Dong-a Ilbo and JoongAng Ilbo reported, citing unidentified government officials.

Kim’s condition has improved and he is not suffering from slurred speech, a disability often associated with a stroke, the reports said. [AP, Jae Soon Chang]

It saddens me to consider that the extraordinary rendition of a few French doctors would do far more for the cause of world peace than the State Department’s entire East Asia Bureau and the U.N. combined. Don’t hold your breath waiting for the Human Rights Industry to get on board with that one.
As to the increasing specificity of these reports, I will just say that it’s surprising … even incredible. And in addition to so many other potential sources of disinformation here, consider that most of these leaks appear to be coming from South Korean intelligence sources.

In another sense, whether the rumors are true is subordinate to domestic perceptions. Today’s North Korea has leaky borders, a proliferation of cheap tunable radios, cell phones, dope dealers, and porn smugglers. The rumors of Kim’s condition are probably racing through markets in Wonsan and Chongjin as we speak. In the world’s last great information vacuum, rumor must move with the speed and power of the water behind a broken dam. In the right hands and with some divine intervention, the rumors themselves could destabilize North Korea regardless of whether there is any truth to them.

Another (partial) State Department briefing transcript below the fold.

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah, Charlie.

QUESTION: It’s been 24 hours since the rumors of Kim Jong-il’s non-appearance in the parade surfaced. Do you have any new information that you could share with us ““ well, any information since we didn’t have any yesterday? Do you have any information you could share with us?

MR. MCCORMACK: Nothing new, Charlie. I’ve seen the multitude of news stories out there. I’ve seen the North Koreans deny that there are any health problems with Kim Jong-il. I’m in the same position essentially that I was yesterday, in that I can’t talk about intelligence information. By that token, though, since I have seen all of the ““ these news reports and I’ve seen the North Korean reaction, I’m not in a position to discount all of these news reports that have been out there. But fundamentally, I can’t comment on intelligence information.

Our focus, regardless of these news reports, put those aside, is on the outputs of the Six-Party process. We have yet to see any of those outputs that have been required by the other five parties, as well as that North Korea has obligated itself to undertake. So we shall see. We’re going to continue to push. That was the reason for Chris Hill’s visit to Beijing, to try to encourage other members of the Six-Party Talks to use what leverage they have with North Korea to move the process forward.

QUESTION: What about any information Chris Hill may have picked up in Beijing that might not fall under intelligence categories?

MR. MCCORMACK: Right. You know, again, I don’t think that he ““ there was anything he picked up that I can share with you. I would just have to fall back on what I ““ what I just said is I’m not in a position to discount all of these news reports that we have seen out there, but I’m also not in a position to confirm them, because they, as reported in the newspapers, rely on intelligence information.

Yeah, Sylvie.

QUESTION: Are you concerned about the impact that the health problems of Kim Jong-il could have on the Six-Party process?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, whatever the North Korean internal decision-making processes are and whomever might be participating in these ““ in those processes, we expect ““ and by we, I mean the other five parties ““ expect results. So regardless of who is taking the decisions or how they are arrived at in the North Korean system, they need to act. They need to act in order to move the process forward. They need to act in order to try to realize a different kind of relationship with the rest of the world, potentially with the United States as well. So regardless of who is involved and how they do it, you need the outputs. And we haven’t seen those yet.

QUESTION: Are you still trying ““ you know, I believe it was publicly disclosed that prior to Assistant Secretary’s trip to Beijing ““ Assistant Secretary Hill’s trip to Beijing last week, that he or somebody on his staff had informed through the New York channel the North Koreans that he was going to be there, the obvious point being if they wanted to send somebody, that he’d be happy to meet them.

Are you still trying to talk to them and are you getting any response from them? Or has everything sort of ground to a halt?

MR. MCCORMACK: Good question. I haven’t checked on that. I don’t know what our latest communications with them have been. I know that, certainly within the past month, we have had communications with them and ““ via a variety of different established channels, known channels, and including with Sung Kim. I know that he has interacted with them regarding the verification protocol and trying to convince them to move it forward. I’ll try to check ““

QUESTION: Can you check?

MR. MCCORMACK: I’ll see what it is that we can say about our latest communications or at the very least try to give you a sense for whether the pace has ““ the frequency and the quality of them has declined or stayed the same or however we would characterize them. We’ll see what we can get for you.

Yeah, Viola.

QUESTION: I didn’t totally hear Arshad’s question, so I want to make sure that one of the elements of that was the last time you had communication through the New York channel.

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah. I don’t ““ as a practice, I don’t comment ““ well, you know, we talked to them on X-date through the New York channel. It’s an active channel of communication. Any ““ on any given day, there may be some form of communication through that channel, whether it be on a substantive policy matter or some administrative bureaucratic matter. I’ll try to get an ““ I’ll try to get a sense for you and try to convey to you what kinds of communications recently we’ve had with them.

Yeah.