Is North Korea Next?

Kim Jong-il’s regime has been censoring reports of unrest in the Arab world. It’s a sign of how worried his regime is about its survival.A report this week that the North Korean regime is on high alert is a reminder that the ongoing unrest in the Arab world kicked off by Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution has implications that stretch far beyond the Middle East.
The timing of recent events couldn’t have been much worse for the leadership in North Korea. The country is said since last year to be in the midst of another agricultural crisis, and has reportedly taken the unusual step of asking its embassies to plead for food aid.
Against this kind of backdrop, the dramatic collapse of the corrupt regime of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak must have stunned the North Korean elite, particularly Kim Jong-il, who has ruled his starving population with an iron fist. But Kim isn’t the only one who has cause for concern—his entire regime, bound by patronage and family connections, is in the same boat.