December 22, 2010

S. Korea, allies discuss what has been an unlikely scenario: The collapse of N. Korea

South Korea, the United States and Japan have begun talking about the possibility that North Korea's Kim Jong-Il regime has lost control, a diplomatic source in Seoul said. The three counties shared a view that something unusual might have taken place in North Korea's control tower.
(FULL STORY)
South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak, 3rd right, salutes the flag at the National Security Council in Seoul on Dec. 21. Reuters
6 of 9 members of Politburo Standing Committee picked 20 months in advance
With the 18th Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Congress a mere 20 months away, the countdown to the wholesale changing of the guard — from the Fourth-Generation leadership under President Hu Jintao to the Fifth-Generation team under Vice-President Xi Jinping — is well under way. Given the CCP administration's visceral dislike for surprises, the composition of the nine-person Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC), China's highest-level decision-making organ, has largely been settled.  (FULL STORY)
Li Yuanchao has been identified the only PBSC member who may display distinct pro-reformist tendencies. Xinhua/Lei Baisong
Expert cites evidence Stuxnet cyber attack on Iran originated in China
China's climate secrecy at Cancun comes as blow to strategic arms control advocates
   
Sanctions causing more N. Koreans abroad to make off with cash
Top Chinese official confided to U.S. envoy about corruption crisis
Singapore leader Lee Kwan Yew's secret views on China and North Korea
U.S. 'Extended Deterrence' group to review responses to N. Korean WMD

  INSIDE  NORTH  KOREA     
'Series of defections from within the North Korean elite' noted by Seoul intelligence

Reports last week indicated that two North Koreans, one from the military and one from the intelligence services, defected from the communist regime.
China's Second Artillery Corps upgrades computer networks
China completes tunnel in Tibet near Indian border as part of infrastructure program

 
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