And the Chinese are recalling three military incidents against Kim Jong-Il:
In 1996, the Sixth Field Army was planning to revolt but the scheme was betrayed by a new commander. One or two plotters got away but Kim Jong-il's personal guards arrested senior officers and the Sixth Field Army's political commissars.
On March 12, 1998, Kim suddenly announced a martial law "exercise" in Pyongyang and there was gunfire in the streets of the city. The Chinese later learned that two ministries were involved in a coup attempt, and that more than 20 ministerial-level officials were killed after it was crushed.
In October 1999, a company of the Third Field Army rebelled in dissatisfaction over grain distribution during the nation's prolonged famine, which may have killed a million people.
Like I said, the North Korean People's Army might yet remember that they are supposed to defend the people--not the psycho regime of Kim Jong-Il who seems determined to take the nation on a Viking funeral ride. And with the army downgraded in favor of spooks and nukes, the army might want to bump off the head thug for their own preservation.
And if China is seriously thinking regime change, things could get much better.
Really, even a North Korea under just a normal dictator would be an improvement over the current nut regime. If China can engineer such a coup, let's not make the perfect the enemy of the good--or even the better, which I suppose is a more accurate way to describe a pro-Chinese authoritarian regime that wants to reform the economy.
Our main problem consists of jihadis and jihadi states who might have nukes. If a coup gets North Korea out of the nuclear business, I'll be happy in Northeast Asia for a good decade or more. And our war against jihadis will have gotten much safer to wage.
