TOKYO (AP) - While raising hopes for denuclearization and a peace treaty to finally end the Korean War, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s newly found focus on diplomacy comes with an ironic flipside: It could be a godsend for his generals.
Kim[1]’s thinking on how his military fits in to his plans to foster detente on the Korean Peninsula and negotiate security guarantees from Washington[2] may become clearer when he sits down with President Donald Trump next week in Singapore.
But one thing is already clear. Kim[3] cannot survive without his loyal troops. Whatever grand strategy he has in mind will strongly reflect their interests - and that includes the ability to make lots of money.
Along with the nuclear bombs and intercontinental ballistic missiles that have gotten the world’s attention, the Korean People’s Army is deeply involved in everything from raising mushrooms and apples to running its national airline and selling the country’s mineral resources abroad.
So they stand to benefit greatly if Kim[4] succeeds in depleting support for sanctions by negotiating with Trump and the North’s affluent neighbors.
Rivaled only by the ruling party itself, with which it is carefully intertwined, the military is the biggest and most formidable organization in North Korea. It consumes roughly one-third of the country’s annual budget and employs 1 million-plus personnel, making its standing army one of the world’s largest despite the North’s small population of less than 25 million.
From the reign of Kim’s father, one of North Korea’s most important slogans has been “Military First.” And since he took power, Kim[5] has set his sights on simultaneously developing the nation’s nuclear forces and its economy. His current diplomatic overtures to China, Seoul and Washington[6] are based on his claim, laid out to party elites in April, to have already “completed” the development of his nuclear arsenal.
With the nuclear development mission accomplished, his argument goes, it’s time to adopt a “new strategic line” that emphasizes the economy and the strategic use of diplomacy.
That should not be seen as a move against his military....
Just as shifts in the economy since Kim[7] assumed power in late 2011 have created a growing income gap in the civilian sector, so have they contributed to growing disparity within the military ranks, suggests William Brown, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and former analyst with the U.S. State Department and CIA.“Some units and some soldiers are making good money doing construction work and others are making essentially nothing doing their foxhole duty. Same for the officers,” he said. “Some are coming out of their 10-year tour of duty with marketable skills, like driving and fixing taxis, and others with no skills at all.”Brown said that, in the long run, diplomatic success could free Kim[8] to cut costs by reducing