Why North Korea Won't Quit Making Trouble

The collapse of North Korea is a subject of immense international interest. Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the overthrow of Eastern European "people's democracies", numerous scholars and research institutes have had their say about the fate of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Now, in the wake of a power transition in Pyongyang, observers and followers of North Korea are again making predictions on the mortality of the world's last Stalinist state. 

Everyone appears to accept the assumption that alterations within North Korea's ruling elite will lead to fundamental changes in its policy. What analysts abroad must realize is that a succession crisis will not alter the path that North Korea is already on; the