Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

North Korean head of state Kim Jung Un ( Credits- Internet image) Source- The National Interest Author-  Gordon G. Chang CHOE RYONG-HAE, North Korea’s second- or third-ranked figure, did not attend a state funeral in November, and, more significantly, his name did not appear on the list of the event’s organizing committee. Choe’s sin? A water leak at the newly constructed Mount Paektu Hero Youth Power Station. A South Korean government spokesman said the omission of Choe’s name was unprecedented, but transfers, demotions and executions of senior regime figures—in the top levels of the Korean Workers’ Party and especially the Korean People’s Army—have become all too common under young leader Kim Jong-un, who came to power on the unexpected death of his father, Kim Jong-il, in December 2011. Many thought that Choe had been executed. The speculation was only natural. Since Kim Jong-un took over, many senior figures have lost their lives, like Kim Yang-gon, who died

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Roman Harak) Source- The National Interest Author-  Sungtae Jacky Park On February 7, North Korea conducted another long-range missile test, disguised as a satellite launch. The test comes after a nuclear test on January 6 and a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) test in December of last year, indicating that the Kim Jong-un regime is intent on developing a secure and deliverable nuclear deterrent. If the regime achieves its objective, North Korea could become the most dangerous nuclear-weapons state in the world, not because the Kim regime is irrational, but because North Korea is the only existing nuclear-weapons state that could conceivably collapse at any moment. Then, U.S. policy makers will have to ask a very, very uncomfortable question: Should the United States come to terms with North Korea as a nuclear-weapons state and seek détente? The conventional logic with regard to nuclear deterrence rests on the principle t