First Wednesday: What could looming power shift mean for North Korea?

Hosted by Paddy O'Connell of BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House, October's First Wednesday discussion will be another opportunity to join in a lively public meeting which brings together experts and commentators and mix their views with contributions from our audience.

Little is known about Kim Jong-il's youngest son Kim Jong Un but his promotion to North Korea's powerful defence commission is being interpreted as a clear sign that he is being groomed to be his father's heir.

If Kim Jong-il is paving the way for a handover of power to a third generation of his faimily, what does this mean for the future of the communist dynasty and its economic and foreign polices?

Will hereditary succession be accepted by the ruling elite? Is there any possibility that there will be resistance to such a young inexperienced ruler from within a country that is suffering from sanctions, international isolation and economic difficulties?

With so much of what goes on inside North Korea veiled in secrecy we will be trying to make sense of the significance of this Workers' Party conference which is the biggest of its kind in 30 years and asking what it might mean for North Korea and its relationships with the world outside.

With:

Aidan Foster-Carter, Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Sociology & Modern Korea at Leeds University;

More to be confirmed shortly.

Hosted by Paddy O'Connell of BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House, October's First Wednesday discussion will be another opportunity to join in a lively public meeting which brings together experts and commentators and mix their views with contributions from our audience.

Register to tell a friend about this lecture.

Comments

If you would like to comment about this lecture, please register here.

©2003-2006 Niminim Limited. Created by

Any ad revenue is entirely reinvested into the Lecture List's operating fund