by liberal japonicus
Via Language Log, this jaw-dropping article analyzes video footage of appearances of Kim Jong Un’s daughter, Kim Ju Ae, to draw conclusions about her place in the North Korean inner circle.
Using facial-recognition technology driven by artificial intelligence, Nikkei identified scenes in which Kim Ju Ae appeared out of 14,115 hours of footage from KCTV. She appeared on more than 600 days during the three-year period, with her appearances shown at least 24 days per month this year alone. From 2024 onward, the number of days she appeared on TV rose sharply, approaching that of her father.
Only a matter of time, methinks.
In North Korea (as opposed to Russia or China) what we basically see is a monarchy in all but name.
That has the general upside, internally, of keeping the succession clear. Assuming that the successor is an adult, as was the case the first two times.
But the downside shows in cases like this where the obvious successor is very young. Perhaps her mother will be regent until she is older. Most likely, however, someone outside the family gets made regent. Which can be problematic.
A lot depends on how long Kim pere keeps going.
Most likely, however, someone outside the family gets made regent.
Perhaps Min Tal Lee Il.
The Kims are essentially god kings (in an officially atheist country).
Their births are accompanied by miracles and the current one was even claimed to be so perfect that he has no digestion.
That idea could be an adoption from something Mao said. He told the story that one day he by chance witnessed his (previously admired) teacher vomiting as the result of too much alcohol and that from then on he despised him. He then declared that the leader must never be associated with something like that, that people had to be indoctrinated to not even be able to imagine their leader having any human weaknesses, so people could not lose respect for him like he himself had.
Well, MAGA world has tendencies in that direction, and the religious part even more so. All images and videos contradicting that must eo ipso be fake. And Sharpie-Gate was just proof that His Orangeness was a better meteorologist than the guys doing it for a living.