Kim and the n-bubble

But the missile systems that figure in Kims blitz of threats and orders do not yet have the range to approach US shores. There is no evidence his nuclear weapons can be shrunk to fit atop a missile. And a prominent photograph showing Kims military making a Normandy-style beach landing appears to have been manufactured,raising questions about whether his forces could possibly repeat the feat his grandfather pulled off in 1950,ordering a ground attack to open the Korean War.

On top of all that,most countries on the verge of a major military assault do not broadcast their battle plans to the world.

You would expect such a military order to be issued in secret, said Kim Min-seok,spokesman of the South Korean Defense Ministry. We believe that by revealing it to the media and publicising it,North Korea is playing psychology.

In fact,it is the abilities that Kim is not showing off that have the Obama administration most worried. The cyberattacks on South Koreas banking system and television broadcasters two weeks ago were surprisingly successful,as was the torpedo attack three years ago this week on the Cheonan,a naval corvette,that killed 46 South Korean sailors.

Were convinced this is about Kim solidifying his place with his own people and his own military, one senior administration official said Friday. To North Korea experts in Washington and Seoul,there is something familiar in the countrys threats to keep the White House in the crosshairs of our long-range missiles. Such threat of armed brinkmanship has in the past drawn its adversaries to the bargaining table with economic concessions. But at the same time,the tensions with the outside world provide the government with opportunities to elevate its leaders status among his peoplewhich might be important to a young,untested leader.

In such a setting,Kims trip to a border island on a wooden boat is proof of his daring and pluck,as the countrys main party newspaper Rodong explained. Rodong also declared about North Koreas nuclear weapons: Let the American imperialists and their followers know! We are not a pushover like Iraq or Libya.

In the propaganda world the Kim dynasty has created,Kim is a great general admired by all of his people,said Lee Sung-yoon,North Korea specialist at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. For the Kim III,fantasy is reality.

Keeping the fantasy up has required a lot of work in the past month. Yet in each of these scenes,North Koreas propagandists sometimes made Kim look as much a clumsy actor as a new leader of one of the worlds most belligerent governments.

For one,North Korean state-run media on March 12 released a photo showing Kim arriving at an island within the gun range of South Korean marines. But it strained credibility that he travelled to a region he called a powder keg on a small unarmed wooden boat.

On Tuesday,North Korea released a photo showing Kim watching hovercrafts storm a snow-covered beach in eastern North Korea. But it did not take long for journalists and analysts to conclude that the picture was clumsily doctored to make the drill look far more imposing than it really was.

Then on Friday,photos released by the state media,which also showed signs of digital manipulation,featured Kim huddling with his top generals during a midnight meeting to approve plans to strike the mainland US. Even if the North Koreans had such missiles would they really intend to launch them at the US in what would be a suicidal action for the Pyongyang government?

A year ago the US and the Chinese saw at least the possibility that you could do business with him, said Jonathan D Pollack,a North Korea expert at the Brookings Institution. But he has steadily reverted to form.