Signs of tensions leading up to Pyongyang parley

[ErnstBlofeld]

Donald Kirk/World Tribune:

Think of any scenario for next week’s conference in Pyongyang of the Workers’ Party of Korea, and you may be right. The ascension of favorite son Kim Jong-Un to a top party position? Certainly a strong possibility. A grand finale complete with declarations of the glorious future of the party, the armed forces and the country in the face of nuclear war by the U.S. but no mention of new leaders? You might also be correct if you chose that outcome. Or how about a power struggle, even an explosion in which one faction battles another? Unlikely but not out of the question. Another option: yet another delay of the conference, unexplained or not, while analysts everywhere list all possible causes with little or nothing to support any of their theories.
Really, all bets are off for the denouement of the long-awaited conference, but word from Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency that it’s going to happen on Tuesday, Sept. 28, would appear pretty definitive. All we don’t know are such details as what it will decide, whether “Dear Leader” Kim Jong-Il will make a speech, whether he will show off at all and, of course, whether “the kid” will finally make his debut, much less get a real job.