As of January 30, it’s been a month since Kim Jong-un, vice chairman of the Workers Party’s Central Military Commission in North Korea, succeeded his late father and became the nation’s top leader. North Korea justifies Kim’s leadership, citing a will written on October 8th by the late leader Kim Jong-il. North Korea explains that the younger Kim was appointed as the supreme commander of the North Korean People’s Army in accordance with the will of the deceased leader. The new leader has visited six military units since the death of his father, including a historically important tank division on New Year’s Day, demonstrating that the nation still sticks to its military-first policy. Dr. Hong Hyun-ik at the Sejong Institute says that the new Kim Jong-un regime looks stable, at least on the surface, and that a power vacuum hasn’t been perceived.

Although Kim Jong-un is still in his late 20s, he has served as the vice chairman of the Workers Party’s Central Military Commission and he was also elected the supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army. If he is nominated as the general secretary of the Workers Party, he will assume all the top posts in the nation. It seems that the new leader is in the process of consolidating power quickly and stably. The North Korean media have repeatedly touted Kim Jong-un as a leader in charge of the party, the military and the government. Kim ascended to the nation’s top post without a major power vacuum and he is expected to maintain his power down the road.

The North Korean media are spurring efforts to idolize the new leader and imprint his friendly image on the minds of ordinary citizens. In the media, Kim Jong-un was seen to visit an institute during the Lunar New Year’s holiday to hold the hands of each student there and stroke their cheeks. To everyone’s surprise, he linked his arms with soldiers in an informal way when he visited a tank division on January 1st and held the hand of a commander who was shedding tears. It is speculated that the young, untested leader with few achievements is seeking to secure legitimacy and promote his friendly image by demonstrating warm relations with citizens. This intention is well evidenced in Kim Jong-un’s letter to his father, pledging his loyalty to the former leader. The letter was revealed on North Korea’s propaganda Web site Uriminjokkiri, which means Our Nation Together.

In the letter, Kim Jong-un says he always cherishes the orders of former supreme commander Kim Jong-il. By using expressions like these, the junior Kim demonstrates that he is a loyal son to his father and the right person to govern the nation in accordance with his father’s will. At the same time, the new leader also makes it clear that he has now become the nation’s supreme commander and all the citizens should therefore serve him loyally.

Kim Jong-un is also expanding his presence to the diplomatic arena. The North Korean Central News Agency reported on January 28th that Kim sent reply telegrams to foreign leaders who had sent their messages of condolence to North Korea after the death of Kim Jong-il. Pyongyang sent reply telegrams to dozens of countries, including Russia, Cuba, Nepal and Iran, and the news agency said North Korea expressed hope to develop friendship and cooperation with those countries. This was the first time the new North Korean leader officially sent his messages to foreign heads of state. It is interpreted as his intent to implant his image as North Korea’s top leader in the diplomatic community. Apparently, Kim has embarked on his diplomatic activities with sincerity.

While Kim Jong-un is stabilizing his power inside the nation, he has yet to make an official appearance in the international community as the North Korean leader. By writing back to the foreign leaders who sent telegrams of condolences to his late father, Kim Jong-un is demonstrating his status as North Korea’s supreme leader internationally. The new leader has taken his first step into the diplomatic stage.

A power transition in North Korea seems to have proceeded smoothly, but diplomatic experts say there are still risk factors. They speculate that a power struggle may erupt in North Korea in the mid to long term, with Kim’s power increasing gradually.

In the short term, it’s hard to expect political unrest in North Korea. North Korean people are brainwashed into believing that only those who are of noble blood are entitled to rule the nation. For now, there are no alternative leaders who can possibly replace Kim Jong-un. Over the mid and long term, however, North Korea will inevitably collapse due to the structural problems in its economy unless the nation improves them. Currently, the ruling elites in North Korea are over 60 years old. Many of them are in their 70s and 80s. The 20-something leader will likely appoint young people of his age in the process of strengthening his leadership. It is uncertain whether the old and influential figures in the military and in the security agency will remain faithful to Kim Jong-un.

Meanwhile, involved countries of the six-party nuclear talks, including the U.S., are paying attention to the future of the Kim Jong-un regime. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on January 29th that North Korea seemed to be stabilizing and that it would be possible for the six-party talks to resume in the first half of this year. U.S. President Barack Obama, in the meantime, surprised some pundits by making no mention of the North Korean nuclear issue in his State of the Union speech last week. Observers speculate that the U.S. is indirectly urging North Korea to return to the dialogue table. But Dr. Hong says the six-party talks are unlikely to resume anytime soon.

img src=https://worldimg.kbs.co.kr/src/images/oth_tnt/dot01.gif align="absmiddle"> Regarding the temporary suspension of North Korea’s uranium enrichment for the resumption of the six-party talks, the Kim Jong-un regime demands that the U.S. provide more food aid to the North or a considerable amount of the 300-thousand tons of food aid consist of grains. But South Korea, Japan and the U.S. find it hard to accept the demand, since the food aid could be diverted to the military. Yet, these countries say the doors to dialogue still remain open. As North Korea’s expectations differ from those of South Korea, Japan and the U.S., they need to coordinate their differing views once again. Given this, it is unlikely that the six-party talks will reconvene in the near future. Obama’s silence on North Korea in his State of the Union address is viewed as a message or an opportunity, in a sense, for North Korea to resume dialogue. However, this softened yet passive message is not convincing enough to induce North Korea to rejoin the six-party talks.

One month has passed since the start of the Kim Jong-un leadership. It looks like the young leader took over power on the surface, but uncertainty still lingers in this volatile part of the world. Now is time for involved countries as well as South and North Korea to look for the best way to cope with the new situation for the sake of regional peace.


[Interview] Defector Opens Oriental Medical Clinic
The Mindeulle Oriental Medical Clinic, located in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul, was opened in 2008 by Lee Chung-guk, a North Korean defector and Oriental medical doctor. Mindeulle means dandelion in Korean. The clinic has now become quite famous in the area of southern Seoul. The clinic director treats patients with a smiling face all the time, and many patients keep flowing in and out of the clinic, thanks to his sincerity and effective acupuncture treatment. But Lee had many difficulties before taking root here in South Korea as an Oriental medical doctor. He lost his parents when he was little, and although he wanted to enter the ruling Workers Party in North Korea, he was denied membership because his father was from South Korea. He was also subject to discrimination in college admission and employment. Having concluded that there was no hope in North Korea, he decided to defect to China. While serving in the military, he ran away and swam across the Amnok River, or the Yalu River in Chinese, to cross the border into China.

My parents died when I was very young. It was not until I grew up that I learned they had come from South Korea. As I wasn’t allowed to join the Workers Party, I worried a lot about the possibility of being dispatched to a coal mine. While wondering what I would do after completing my military service, I thought it would be better to go to China than work at a coal mine because China was better off than North Korea. But my life in China was tough, because many North Korean defectors were caught and repatriated to the North. So I decided to come to South Korea.

It was not that Lee dreamed of becoming an Oriental medical doctor from the beginning. After arriving in South Korea in 1994, he worked at a tourist hotel in Seoul for two months before working at the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives. With no friends or family in South Korea, Lee found it challenging to survive in a competitive society. He thought he should choose a professional job in order to stand on his own two feet in South Korean culture. He received special admission into KyungHee University’s Oriental Medicine College in 1996.

I worked at the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives in the Sonpa district, southeastern Seoul, after arriving in South Korea. While working there for one or two years, I realized I would end up being a salaried man no matter how hard I tried. Of course, there was nothing wrong about being a salaried man, but I wanted to set the goal and find my own job. That was why I entered an Oriental medicine college. The most difficult part was to learn Chinese characters and English. It wasn’t easy to study at all. Hardly a day passed without an exam. But I was determined to achieve something in a certain field, as I managed to come to South Korea anyway.

Lee passed the state exam for Oriental medical doctors in 2002 and opened a clinic in Hanam city, Gyeonggi Province. The clinic didn’t turn out well at first, but he never gave up and continued to treat patients with genuineness. It began to attract patients little by little through word of mouth, and he moved his clinic to Seoul as recommended by his acquaintances and patients. His clinic has even become known to Japan. Lee treats patients in Seoul during weekdays and goes abroad during the weekends for foreign patients. Today, as always, he is making relentless efforts to provide heartfelt medical care to patients and give back his abilities to society.

From time to time, I wonder why I’m struggling so hard. I’m guessing the final goal is to do something good for society. I can support myself by running a clinic. But that’s not my ultimate purpose. I could return my knowledge or skills to society. Whatever it is, I hope to do something beneficial for the world. That’s very clear.

Lee achieved success through his steady efforts and diligent work. We hope he will be able to nurture bigger dreams as an Oriental medical doctor and become a source of inspiration to many defectors from North Korea.