This just in from the Sultan of Gyeonngi (aka Ken Rush)

Fanning Hysteria Over Yet Another Evil Empire

On October 9, 2006 North Korea conducted a small underground nuclear test, thus generating a wave of hysteria throughout the “free world”. Being very visibly an evil empire, condemnation was swift and unambiguous. Other empires which conduct their nefarious activities with a greater degree of ambiguity were chief among those that condemned North Korean President Kim Jong Il’s latest cinematic spectacle.

Here in South Korea Kim is recognized as a potentially dangerous but ultimately toothless adversary by most of the populace and by at least a small minority of the foreigners who live and work here. Essentially Kim is a despot (thereby being a fairly typical representative of the political species) but he also fancies himself a bon vivant and playboy. Kim is an evil fusion of Josef Stalin and Hugh Hefner! Kim has his luxurious accommodations. Kim has at least two fully equipped luxury yachts provided by the state. Essentially, then, Kim’s lifestyle is little different than that of any self-respecting capitalist despot with money and power at their disposal.

In the wake of the October 9 test most reasonable observers here (including virtually all of my Korean colleagues and a small percentage of the foreigners I work with) concluded that this was merely another example of the sabre-rattling Kim has indulged in over the years. Subsequently, upon having his wrist slapped by Beijing and Moscow, Kim’s threats of conducting another test were revealed as idle. There are still those here (a large ESL theme park close to the DMZ) gabbling semi-hysterically about contingency plans, escape routes and emergency contact numbers for their consulates in Seoul. The rest of us merely sit back, have a shot of Soju, eat a few “crisps” and watch a little bit of political theatre.

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