The mystery of Pyongyang
The world, which until last week was still unable to determine whether North Korea really possessed a nuclear weapon, is now trying to puzzle out an even greater mystery.
Heads of state worldwide are trying hard to guess the steps to be taken by Kim Jong -il, who is sure to fill the shoes of his father, dictator Kim Il -sung, who died last week.
As is the case with most things concerning the self-isolated country, the actual mechanism of Kim Jong -il's ascent to power remains an enigma.
The main questions facing the world now are whether the junior Kim will demolish the wall of isolation his father built, and whether he will continue to govern as the old Kim did during four decades of despotic rule.
The only one thing for certain in Pyongyang is: A cult of personality is the epicenter of power.
Watching television footage of the huge number of people -- ranging in age from octogenarians to toddlers -- weeping over Kim's death at the base of a huge statue of him, and the way they expressed their feelings at being left behind, shows that no matter how dangerous and unpredictable the despot might have seemed to the outside world, he was loved by his people.
The North Koreans, from the time Soviet Union planted a communist regime there in 1947 in defiance of the United Nations resolution to hold a democratic election in the Korean peninsula, have been nurtured to believe that the old Kim is a sort of demi- god.
The maneuvers of Kim's special brand of authoritarianism have included the impeding of any prospective politicians from reaching the caliber necessary for national leadership -- except of course for his own son.
However, while the voice for civic rights was systematically muted, Kim Il -sung had managed to meet the most basic needs of his people.
Kim has left behind an economy which does not seem so bad when compared to those of many developing countries.
On the other hand, the North Koreans have been denied information from outside the country. They are not only unaware of terrorist acts sponsored by their regime in other lands, but, until recently, none of them had even been told that man has advanced into space so far that he has actually stepped foot on the moon.
Kim turned North Korea into a vast, sterile green house in which only his mystique could grow. He seems to have ruled his country with iron hands in velvet gloves.
The heir apparent, Kim Jong -il, will no doubt gain the support of the military -- television footage shows young officers among those mourning his father's demise -- and of the people, although he lacks his father's charisma.
And the style his sure-to-be-authoritarian regime will take depends to some degree on the old guards who used to surround his father. They are certain to defend the old ways.
But even if the new dictator should not prove to be a carbon copy of his father, he surely understands that the people still view him through the prism of the personality cult his father so carefully cultured.
It can only be hoped that the junior Kim, who may not enjoy the solid legitimacy his father did, will rule more humanely and see other nations as possible friends. Most of all, it is to be hoped that when looking southward, he will see the leaders in Seoul more as distant relatives, than as mere American puppets, who deserve a nuclear bombing to set them straight.
If he is a far-sighted man, the best thing for him to do now, is to introduce a more sophisticated program to boost North Korea's economy and relax political control. If he does this, perhaps North Korea will slowly leave its cocoon and place itself in a more viable place in the world community.