At The Korean Crossroads

Whether or not Kim Jong il has recently suffered some kind of stroke, the possibility and its consequences will have provoked a flood of position papers and briefings in Foreign Ministries around the world.

Far away in western geography terms and remote in mind, Korea is nevertheless the one playground on this planet where all the big boys interests fetch up together. North Korea has land borders with the Peoples Republic of China and Russia. South Korea is home to 30/40,000 US troops and has Japan as its near neighbour.

They have all been uncomfortably reminded about what might happen if Kim Jong Il pops his clogs unexpectedly. The last spin of the cold war roulette wheel and none of them are sure exactly which number will come up. Hence the sudden interest about Kim junior's health.


Looking back the cold war era had a comforting predictability. We all knew who were the "goodies and baddies" So, the North Korean Kim dynasty has had an old fashioned comforting familiarity about it. Suddenly that has vanished.


Let's hope whatever transpires, the long suffering Koreans finally get a better deal and families can be truly reunited after nearly sixty years of tragic separation.