Joseph Yun Li-sun

Meeting in Pyongyang, the members of the Supreme People’s Assembly have put aside the issue of Kim Jong-il’s succession, announcing inside “huge funds” for the country’s economic development. Of course, these are but words as people starve to death.

Delegates trickled in over the past three days to make the usual visits before each year’s annual meeting to pay their respect to the late Kim Il-sung and to praise his son Kim Jong-il. Everyone is waiting for the consecration of the heir, Kim Jong-un; no one expects any change to the regime’s disastrous economic policies, which are decimating the population.

The South Korean government ends total embargo imposed on NGO operating in North Korea. The Eugene Bell Foundation, which has a close working relationship with Caritas Korea, will be the first to ship aid. The decision to lift the ban follows more reports about the North Korean population’s dire situation.

The tsunami and earthquake that devastated Japan have had an unexpected consequence. Japan’s historic enemy, South Korea, has toned down its traditional anti-Japanese rhetoric in order to provide aid. Leading the way, the Catholic Church is sending messages and donations, calling on the faithful to pray and raise funds for victims and survivors. The bishop of Daejeon tells Catholics to put the past behind them and remember that we are all “brothers”.

Seoul starts joint military exercises with the United States today. The North’s Stalinist regime responds with a bellicose statement, pledging to turn the South’s capital into a “sea of flames”.

Five NGOs sound the alarm after their teams come back from Pyongyang. People are desperate and thousands could die. Source warns AsiaNews that hunger might cause a popular uprising and lead to a mass exodus to the South.

For the first time ever, small groups of North Koreans protested in public against Pyongyang’s Stalinist government. For the first time also, no one betrayed them. Fear of the “third” Kim is stronger than all else.

The late prelate, beloved by Catholics and non-Catholics alike, had started his own fight for organ donations, until then a taboo in the country. For the second year in a row, two years after his death, pledges to donate top the 100,000 mark.

Various kinds of celebrations were organised in Pyongyang, from a floral festival dedicated to kimjongilia (a begonia created in Kim’s honour) to children’s recitals. However, for the first time in a decade, food handouts for ordinary people failed to materialise, a sign of the severity of the economic crisis that is gripping the country.

Colonels from the two sides meet today in the demilitarised zone to prepare a ministerial level meeting. A source tells AsiaNews, “Pyongyang is on the brink of collapse. We are afraid the ‘Third Kim’ will impose himself with violence.”

Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, excluded from the succession, speaks from his exile in Japan: "My father does not trust his heir apparent, Kim Jong-un. He did not want him as his successor. "

Kim Jong-il’s designated heir appears to be preparing a solo visit to Beijing. Hu Jintao and his successor Xi Jinping want to boost the alliance but also demand greater humility from the son compared to his I’ll-do-it-my-way father, ‘dear leader’ Kim Jong-il.