Do they have any stamina left for a revolution?
Depending on the reports, the answer is either "no" or "man, they don't even have the stamina to work properly". Sad, but true. I don't know how accurate those are, but there is very little dissent in North Korea, for any reason.
I get the impression the "Great Leader" and his party has morally, physically, and intellectually crippled the population beyond repair. The mounting revolution in Iran is young, educated, bold and restless, while North Koreans have suffered famine after famine, generations of indoctrination and brainwashing.
That I agree with, and add utter repression to the list. Imprisoning three generations of political offenders and the like. It's interesting, but people tend to love such dictators. I don't know why, but I suspect it's a survival mechanism of some sort. Stalin used the same methods to a very similar effect.
I hope I'm wrong, but everytime I hear of NK, I'm thinking it's a lost cause.
North Korean regime will fail eventually. Will that be tomorrow or in fifty years, I really can't say. It depends a lot on the mistakes they do now and the damage already done by mistakes caused by ineptitude (such as the botched currency revaluation). It probably depends even more on how successful the shift of power to his son will be, the attack on the South Korean corvette implies it isn't going all that well. It also depends on how able the heir is, and how long he lives. He's 27 or so, so he'll probably live for a long time from now, but he has been rumored to suffer from various conditions (diabetes and hypertension), so he might die young, depending on how well will he look after himself. It also depends on how North Koreans will take the transfer of power, it could be that they will swallow almost anything, or that their loyalties die alongside Kim Jong Il.
This last part is an interesting point. It's possible some generals are seeing the fractures in the society and see that the regime will be severely weakened by the death of a man it depends on, and want a solution that will give them more power, or a solution that will help the regime survive better. Perhaps they're desperately trying to avert a civil war. Who knows, but the worse the better in the long run.
Once the regime collapses, it will probably take at least two generations to patch up the damage done, and at least another three to erase it.
McHrozni
