I’m confused – is North Korea set to collapse, or not? Last month, in the throes of the irrational exuberance of Tahrir Square, South Korean conservative unificationistas dared to speculate about a North Korean revolution. Now, it seems the Unification Minister has stopped drinking the kool-aid

Speaking in a lecture, [ROK Unification Minister]Hyun[In-taek] said the political and military instability in Pyongyang appears to be “mild” and “not too bad” even though the social and economic aspects beckon relatively greater concern.

“(We) have concluded that things are not so serious as to consider the collapse of the North Korean regime,” Hyun said, calling its political situation “relatively more stable than in the past.”

“The (instability) index appears to have dropped because North Korea’s control was strong,” he said.

North Korea runs one of the most controlled societies in the world, isolating its 24 million population from outside information and operating a cult of personality around the Kim dynasty.

In another forum, Um Jong-sik, deputy to Hyun, told a group of foreign diplomats assigned to both Seoul and Pyongyang that it was “difficult for now” to tell how North Korea would behave in terms of its relations with South Korea.

Huh? Did reality set in over the weekend? And, what’s this “index”? Sounds, you know, empirical, not ideological.

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Filed under: Business/Economy, East Asia Tagged: hyun in taek, north korea, South Korea