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[–]hennaojisan 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

This is an extraordinary New Yorker article that, for me anyway, raises many questions, is extremely difficult to understand, and makes me ask: why is this article in The New Yorker? The article was printed almost exactly two years ago but recently has again become relevant, possibly. If you had trouble understanding just who is who, what with so many people named Kim in the article and even the article's author, here is a summary of the characters:

Kim Il-sung: The Great Leader (1941-2011)

Kim Jong-nam: The dead man in Malaysia who, according to the Japanese press, did not like politics but liked Tokyo Disneyland. Until 2001 he was the heir-apparent but fell out of favor due to a failed and much-publicized attempt to visit Tokyo Disneyland secretly.

Kim Han-sol: Eldest son of Kim Jong-nam. He appeared in the YouTube video described in the article and is a nephew of Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s present leader. He is “believed to be the eldest son of Kim Jong-nam who was the son of Kim Il-sung.” Kim Han-sol was born in 1995 and his whereabouts is presently unknown. He studied in France, Bosnia, and Macau. At some unspecified point in his studies, he had a Libyan roommate who told him of democracy and diversity. [He has expressed guilt for harsh treatment of North Korean people on Twitter and FaceBook, although the article only mentions YouTube.] The article's author, Kim Suki implies that Kim Han-sol has as much legitimate claim to leadership of N. Korea as does Kim Jung-un.

Kim Jung-un: The present leader of North Korea who studied in Switzerland before taking power in December 2011.

Kim Suki: The article's purported author. She claims to have been "undercover" in N. Korea for six months teaching the country's young elite and gathering information for "her book." Who is she and how did she get that job?

Does any of this have anything to do with the break-in of the N. Korean Embassy in Madrid last week? Perhaps Kim Han-sol is being protected by one or more international intelligence agencies who hope to use Kim Han-sol for political advantage. The Madrid break-in might have provided information those agencies can use in their quest.

[–]TheWebOfSlime[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

CIA cut out inside North Korea. They outed themselves in desperation.