I read tabloids, tend to read more into things than are really there, and have a tendency to unrealistic optimism, so I’m probably wrong about this and it doesn’t mean a thing, but I see North Korea lightening up under Young Sainted Heroic Leader Kim Jong-un.
Wheeler Dealer Kim Jong-un
The cause of my optimism is that he has lifted a long-standing ban on women from riding bicycles in urban areas. Not a big deal,I know. It’s not as if he announced open elections, declared free speech to be acceptable, or opened negotiations with the south.
But it will make life a little bit easier for a lot of women, which shows that he has some concern for the lives of his people, and create, both literally and metaphorically, a more free-wheeling, liberated atmosphere. It’s the wind in your hair thing.
The ban has been in place since Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, decided in the 1990s that since people on bicycles can be killed by people in cars, the safe and sensible thing to do was to ban bicycles. For women. In cities.
Anyway, baby Kim has taken a baby step, and that makes sense. He doesn’t know who among his entourage or among his military might be true believers in Korean isolationism or might take his father’s godhood a bit too literally, and be tempted to put a pillow over his face while he sleeps. This is a step that few will object to, and perhaps the next step will be a smidgen more significant.
Perhaps he’s counting on North Koreans, despite their wailing at his father’s funeral and their massive and enthusiastic demonstrations, being secretly hungry for reform, as many of them are hungry for food. Perhaps he sees himself as North Korea’s Gorbachev.
Anyway, I sure hope so. When democracy breaks out, it’s usually a good thing.
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