The north korean Kim Jong-Nam, the half-brother of the North Korea dictator was assassinated at the Kaula-Lumpur Airport by two females who either punctured him with poisoned needles or sprayed something in his face, according to Malaysian police.
Hereditary monarchy rules - kill all heirs
Following the attack the two females escaped, reportedly in a taxi, and have not been apprehended. The Malaysian police are still investigating.
Nam was a gambler and a playboy who lost the confidence of his father when he embarrassed the North Korean government by sneaking into Japan on a false passport - he was expelled.
Until then he was the presumptive heir trained to take over as hereditary head of the government.
After that he often spoke against the hereditary model of leadership but also repeatedly said that he had no interest in returning to his country and taking over as head of government.
That was probably a good idea although it apparently didn’t keep Nam far enough below the radar because his step-brother is consolidating his hold on the government by eliminating anyone who seems to be poised to compete for power.
His uncle Jang Song-Thaek was tried and executed for treason, apparently with his wife’s collusion, as a part of Kim Jong-Un’s removal of the old guard of 70-year-olds who were cluttering up the 33-year-old’s control of the government apparatus.
But since his wife Kim Kyong Hui, 68, died soon afterwards after complaining about the execution, the rumors may not be true. Or she may have been complaining that she didn't get rewarded. She reportedly died of a stroke during an argument about his death, but later reports say she was poisoned.
In another example of the dear leader's approach to problems, after a skyscraper in Pyongyang collapsed, all the engineers and architects involved in its construction were executed by machine gun.
Proximity is proximal cause of death.
Being anywhere near Kim Jung-un is widely recognized as being a very dangerous location, just ask the ghost of Defense Minister Hyon Yong-Cho who fell asleep in a meeting and was rumored to have woken up strapped to the barrel of an anti-aircraft gun. That’s actually not true, he was apparently tied to an execution pole and shot from a distance.
Here is one dramatization of the event.
That might be seen as an internet legend if it weren’t for the other confirmed execution methods used by Kim:
> Death by flamethrower
> Execution by machine gun (Uncle Jang)
> Proverbial cup of hemlock (Kim Kyong Hui poisoned)
> Execution by Machine gun - engineers and designers of a failed building.
> Flamethrower again (Deputy Public Security Minister O Sang-hon, friend of Hyon Yong-Cho
> Mortar (vice minister of the Army Kim Chol)
President Trump’s dilemma
The challenge for the new president is just how to deal with someone this bloodthirsty and paranoid who already has nuclear weapons. Tweeting threats won't cut it, but the dear leader's apparent desire to be linked with celebrities may help.
Perhaps Dennis Rodman can help.
The point not mentioned in any of the news reports I’ve seen is the critical aspect of the missile test being a solid fuel rocket. Commentators have talked about how this means there will be virtually no warning with this kind of fuel since it is already in the weapon and doesn’t have to be loaded just before firing but that's a minor point.
What everyone seems to have missed is that a solid fuel rocket of the kind reportedly shown firing the other day is launched from a container into the air before the rocket fires. That means it could be carried on a cargo ship or submarine so even a short range weapon can be extremely dangerous since it can be launched from just a hundred miles off the coast of the US.
