“Kim Jong-il” on The Daily Caller

Why do foreign policy insiders and political analysts incessantly refer to Kim Jong-il as irrational? He epitomizes the phrase “rogue dictator,” but that provides no insight into the man’s mental stability. If anything, he behaves perfectly rationally — he acts as a petulant child that has never been disciplined for behaving badly. The West has already cut off much of Pyongyang’s aid, so Kim has literally nothing to lose. He has a country on the brink of famine and economic collapse yet shows no sign of ingratiating North Korea to the international community. The question isn’t why Kim comports himself this way, it’s why shouldn’t he? (more)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea’s leader met in his capital with China’s top foreign policy official Thursday as a U.S. governor announced a trip to the North in a flurry of promising diplomacy two weeks after a deadly artillery exchange between the two Koreas. (more)

YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea (AP) — A U.S. supercarrier and South Korean destroyer took up position in the tense Yellow Sea on Sunday for joint military exercises that were a united show of force just days after a deadly North Korean artillery attack. (more)

YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea (AP) — The United States and South Korea prepared for war games Sunday as South Koreans demanded vengeance over a deadly North Korean artillery bombardment that has raised fears of more clashes between the bitter rivals. (more)

YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s president ordered more troops to a front-line island and dumped his defense minister as the country grappled with lapses in its response to a deadly North Korean artillery strike. (more)

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen today warned of destabilization in East Asia if North Korea acquires nuclear weapons or continues to provoke its neighbors. (more)

With his country on the brink of war, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il spent today reinforcing stereotypes about his own eccentricity: He took his youngest son and heir apparent on a tour of a soy sauce factory. (more)

In the face of international opprobrium, Iran and North Korea march relentlessly towards joining the small club of nations capable of deploying and selling nuclear weapons. If allowed to succeed, their new status would irrevocably alter the global balance of power as we know it. (more)

Reporting from Seoul — (more)

— HISTORY: North Korea celebrates Oct. 10, 1945 as the foundation day of the Workers’ Party of Korea. (more)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The youngest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was elected to leadership roles in the ruling Workers’ Party, state media said early Wednesday, bolstering speculation he’s being groomed to succeed his father as leader of the nuclear-armed nation. (more)

The North Korean leader’s youngest son Kim Jong-un has been appointed as a general, state media announced tonight, in the clearest signal yet that he is Kim Jong-il’s chosen heir. (more)

North Korea’s ruling party will hold its first conference in a generation on 28 September, state media reports say, amid speculation that leader Kim Jong-il is about to name his successor. (more)

North Korea abruptly postponed today what was billed as the country’s largest political convention in 30 years, renewing speculation that the secretive country’s supreme leader Kim Jong Il may be too sick — possibly with diabetes — to dominate the convention. (more)

Keith Olbermann has a thin skin. This week, he brazenly showed off that skin on the air – but only metaphorically, thank God. Keith, you tease! (more)

Chinese officials are indicating that one of the results of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il’s visit to China last week was that he has agreed to rejoin the Six-Party Talks aiming to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. Unfortunately, we have heard this before, and one should not expect Beijing to exert itself to achieve this result any more than it has in the past. (more)

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il has turned up in China in a strangely timed visit for the reclusive leader while former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is in North Korea trying to win the release of an imprisoned American. (more)

I have been grumpy lately. It all started — well, thirty-one years ago — but more recently when I spilled coffee on my laptop. True to form, I addressed stupidity with stupidity, rebuffing the “Geek Squad” at Best Buy and attempting my own repair. I rained blows upon and profanities toward the laptop … it did not respond in kind. An hour later, an hour angrier, there I was … at Best Buy and at the mercy of “Geek Squad” judge and jury, helpless.  “Sir, you should really never hit your laptop.” (more)

Fifa has launched an investigation into allegations that the North Korean World Cup coach and players were punished by the government after they lost all three of their games in the tournament in South Africa. (more)

North Korea’s ruling communist party is to hold a rare meeting of its political bureau, state media have said. (more)