Nork Nukes Redux?

North Korea has apparently conducted another nuclear weapon test according to the A.P. Or it might be an earthquake. In any event, people are edgy. I think bouffant lover and all powerful dicator Kim Jong-Il is perfectly willing to take all of North Korea with him when he passes from this mortal coil like a latter day Egyptian pharoh trying to take it with him. Yonhap, the South Korean news agency even reported that an "unamed North Korean official" had this to say about the current crisis: "We hope the situation will be resolved before an unfortunate incident of us firing a nuclear missile comes." Yeah, nuclear was would be unfortunate I suppose. There may not be any person in the North Korean government able or even willing to try and replace Kim before he plunges his country over the precipice. The longer this situation continues the more I start to feel the unease I felt growing up during the Cold War knowing that nuclear war was a real possibility. I am beginning to wonder if North Korea will be where the next world war will ignite -- a war that the average citizen is not free to ignore like the war in Iraq.

That's not to say there is no humor to be found here. Like the North Korean representative who says with a straight face that North Korea should be congratulated for its nuclear test efforts. Or the atrocious and old file footage of North Korea that Fox News is running featuring thousands of screaming mourners for Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-Il's dad, circa 1994, the same "North Korean nuclear reactor" footage fom at least 1994, and lots of Kim Jong-Il and then Secretary of State Madeline Albright making nice nice for press photo ops circa 2000. I can't criticize the media too much though, fresh pictures are pretty tough to come by from a state without a free press. I love the seeing the video of the talkswith Albright though, it's a good reminder of just how well Bill Clinton's North Korea policy turned out. Then there's always this:



Kim Jong-Il: Fashion Maverick and Nuclear Proliferator.