What can Kim Jong Il learn from South China?
According to a Japanese TV channel (screenshot below shows Kim's motorcade), Kim Jong Il is visiting two southern cities of China: Guangzhou and Shenzhen, located in the economically most advanced Guangdong province that benefit the most from China's economic reforms in the past twenty years. The costal provine is heavily dependent on FDI,and account for 30% of China's exports. A New York Times article also confirmed Kim's itinerary in China.
Is Kim in China to explore whether economic reforms are good things? Is he still suspicioius about whether economic prosperity will rotten people's moral standards? I seriously doubt so. Kim is the most informed person in North Korea and he's already experienced all luxury that money (and power) and "evil" capitalism can bring to him, and even an idiot knows that more money and more food is better, at least when you are starving. He probably comes to China to avoid the cold winter in North Korea, I suspect.
Rumor is that Kim is a heavy user of internet. Wonder whether he has a blog. He may well replace the state media with his personal blog. That saves a lot of money, by "disintermediating" between him and his subjects.







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