NEW YORK, April 2 – As I write
this, a state of war might exist between North Korea and the United States. Or
it might not. A state of something definitely exists. Maybe. It’s up to a
twenty-eight-year-old man who dresses like Mao and looks like he sings soprano
in the Vatican choir. It’s up to Kim Jung-un.
The
average man in his late twenties is impulsive enough without having absolute
power over twenty-five million people. Give him enough nuclear weapons to blow
the Earth off its axis and you can expect some serious acting out. That seems
to be the case with the Supreme Leader of North Korea, Kim Jung-un. We can’t be
sure, though. Why?
First,
it’s always been difficult, if not impossible, to get news out of North Korea.The only reports that get out are
the ones they want you to know. (Although “news” and “reports” may be setting
the bar high for something that, on occasion, looks like a cheap video game.)
Second, this may be an American thing, but Mr. Kim is not a glad-handing, baby-kissing politician. He doesn’t
invite you in. So, it’s very unlikely he’ll reveal anything personal. Finally,
I’ll go out on a limb and say that if you reach the age of twenty-eight and still look like a
Pyongyang paperboy, you’ve probably been teased all your life. That doesn’t
automatically make you a Korean Carrie (Karaoke?)but it’s not a recipe for being
wholesome and integrated, either.
So,
how does the U.S. deal with a world leader whose politics go back to the Cold War, but whose appearance
conjures up MGM musicals? Are we Betsy Booth (Judy Garland) to his Andy Hardy (Mickey
Rooney) or does John Kerry look enough like Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) to give
him wise advice and fatherly guidance? Stay tuned.
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