Kim Jong-il’s Shaky Successor

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's death is sure to bring out the obits and the geopolitical chess games, and will put the media on lookout for cracks in the world's most isolated regime. The Daily Beast's Richard C. Bush sets the stage for a sudden transfer of power: "The most likely scenario is a collective leadership that will rule in the name of the Kim family—in effect, a regency. Kim Jong-un has not had enough time to consolidate power in the key institutions of the North Korean regime: the military, the Korean Worker’s Party, the government administration, and the security and intelligence agencies."