N. Koreans Recoil Over Kim’s Bid To Limit Wealth -- MSNBC/Washington Post
Outrage, riot pressure Pyongyang to amend its confiscatory policy.
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il moved early this month to wipe out much of the wealth earned in the past decade in his country's private markets. As part of a surprise currency revaluation, the government sharply restricted the amount of old bills that could be traded for new and made it illegal for citizens to have more than $40 worth of local currency.
It was an unexplained decision — the kind of command that for more than six decades has been obeyed without question in North Korea. But this time, in a highly unusual challenge to Kim's near-absolute authority, the markets and the people who depend on them pushed back.
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My Comment: I have been a regular visitor to both China and Korea since the mid 1980s. In the past few months .... for the first time .... many of my Asian contacts are now voicing their opinion that the days of Stalinist rule in North Korea may be coming to an end. I concur .... tThere is a now strong possibility that in my lifetime the DMZ may be no more .... but just a relic of a time from long ago.
Lets keep our fingers crossed.
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