North Koreans Perfect Car Culture

I’ll put aside my opinion, that leadership successions really aren’t that important for one post. One little detail WaPo leaves out about the brother-in-law of Kim Jong Il promoted to the No. 2 spot in the secretive nation’s leadership is, that Kim Jong-il was physically present for the event.

But, the report of who is now in power pales in comparison to the possible tale of who were taken out – and with cars:

A book-length historic study could be done on car accident culture in the DPRK. On one hand, a car accident, heart attack or “incurable illness” may be as reported. The side effects of the elite’s party and social culture–drunk driving fatalities (some elites seem to refuse chauffeur service), alcohol-related disease–have thinned the ranks of KJI’s trusted lieutenants in his Personal Secretariat. On the other hand, the car accident has also been a euphemism in the regime’s official obituaries, and can indicate either the beginning, or end, of a purge.

It’s like a Stephen King novel. Or, perhaps, it’s an illustration of how newly-developing – if the DPRK can be called that – states re-engineer existing technology for their local uses.

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Filed under: Korea, Military, Politics Tagged: cars, jang song taek, kim jong il, kim jong un, north korea, ri ji gang