NORTH KOREA

We have known for some time that North Korea's President Kim Jong-Il was barmy; anyone with that hair and dress sense must be. But the latest episode in the struggle between the two Koreas shows that perhaps the whole country is.

North Korea's decision to lob a whole load of artillery shells onto a South Korean island just over the maritime border, killing two marines and injuring a number of others, must be one of the daftest political decisions in years. It achieved nothing, other than robust condemnation from the U.S., E.U., Russia and the U.N., and studied silence from its only ally China (studied silence being communist code for condemnation). It also reminded the world - if, indeed, it needed reminding - just how unreliable and dangerous the country is. The sight of a young, female North Korean newsreader issuing dire threats in the event of retaliation reminded me very much of Saddam Hussein's similarly deluded information minister during the invasion of Iraq.

Some analysts believe that the artillery orders are somehow connected with the ailing Mr. Kim's recent attempts to hand power over to his youngest son Kim Jong-Un. At the end of the day, as with most things in North Korea, we simply do not know. But I suspect that there is a real danger that the country will implode in the near future.

Walter Blotscher