North Korea News

So Kim Jong Un executed his uncle. Not a big surprise to anyone who follows/cares what's going on in the country that is holocausting its own citizens.

One big question is whether Kim acted out of strength, consolidating the power he has amassed over the past two years, or out of fear that his uncle was building a rival force inside the regime.

Kim already removed the country's top general last year, Cha noted. By taking down Jang, he's axed a powerful figure from the country's dominant Workers' Party.

"It makes you wonder: If he's consolidating his power, what is he building it around?" Cha said. "He's basically attacking the two most important institutions in North Korea, which is the party and the military."

He is a mad man, and you can never taken anything he utters at face value. He's young, entitled, and entrenched in a government that is Soviet-esque in its treatment of dissidents or mere mild threats to the ruling party. Any state that will deliberately starve its own citizens to to increase its own limited largesse cannot be trusted. And this move is meant not to just consolidate power but to inspire greater fear amongst anyone in either the party or the military who might think of a challenge.

The world is watching.