04/18/2011, 00.00
NORTH KOREA
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Pyongyang, regime "princes" put Kim dictatorship at risk

by Joseph Yun Li-sun
Led by the two younger sons of Kim Jong-il, the "grandchildren" of the Revolution, trade in illegal drugs and use state funds to gamble in Macao or see a rock concert in Singapore. The "Dear Leader" can’t stand them but has to put up with them, as his heir is one of them.
Seoul (AsiaNews) - Not only propaganda, Kim Jong-un, the third son and heir of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, is trying to revolutionize the system of power within the regime in Pyongyang. After having fought them for years, it seems that the regime "princes" are stealing more and more power from the dictatorship establishment: this is the case of the 30-year-old grandchildren of those who fought for Kim Il-sung’s Korean Revolution. 

The dictator’s two sons, Jong-un, and Jong-chol, are leading the new revolution. They both love western music and the gambling, and with great ease use state funds to travel from Singapore toMacao to gamble and attend the concerts of American rock stars. Last February, Jong-chol’s ten days in Singapore to see Eric Clapton and play at a casino, cost approximately 100 thousand U.S. dollars.

An official source in South Korea says: "The two sons of the dictator have created a group known as Ponghwajo, the regime 'princes' which roam not only North Korea but also Macao,Singapore and Malaysia." The "princes" should not be confused with their Chinese namesakes they are not the children of revolutionaries who have taken the first steps of Kim Il-sung (or, in the case of China, Mao), but their grandchildren.

The children, now aged between 40 and 50, laid the foundations for the government loyal to Kim Jong-il and are deeply averse to their own children, who have not experienced the rigor of the early years of the dictatorship and use all they can with contempt. In addition, the source explains, they are "trading in illegal drugs, which they buy during their travel abroad and bring into the country through their contacts."

The current dictator can not tolerate them. Despite having spent 10 thousand dollars to send his dog to a vet in France last week, in fact, Kim Jong-il continues to preach the need for sobriety on the part of its officials. His eldest son, Kim Jong-nam, was sentenced to exile for having gone on the sly to Tokyo Disneyland.

This is not only a local question: South Korean and American analysts follow this advance of the youth very carefully believing, not unreasonably, that the population could rise up to counter the dissolute "grandchildren of the Revolution" and overthrow the dictatorship.

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