Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

The wrath of L’il Kim

North Korea’s dictator supposedly has ordered the executions of 15 officials this year, according to a news report.

NKOREA-SKOREA-MILITARY-ANNIVERSARY
NKOREA-SKOREA-MILITARY-ANNIVERSARY
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un waves to the crowd during a military parade at Kim Il-Sung square marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean war armistice in Pyongyang on July 27, 2013. North Korea mounted its largest ever military parade on July 27 to mark the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War, displaying its long-range missiles at a ceremony presided over by leader Kim Jong-Un. AFP PHOTO / Ed Jones (Photo credit should read Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images)

 

 

North Korea’s dictator supposedly has ordered the executions of 15 officials this year, according to a news report.

I would like to think this is a sign of regime instability. But it may just be that as Kim Jong Un grows fatter, he gets meaner. He is looking less like L’il Kim and more like Little Jimmy Rushing, the “Mister Five By Five” who sang in Count Basie’s band.

Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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