Think what you will about North Korea's Dear Leader, Kim Jong Il, but the man has a gift for theater. He captivated much of the planet when he hosted South Korean President Kim Dae Jung during their historic summit in Pyongyang last year. He pulled a fast one on former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright by getting her to join him at an elaborate celebration of North Korea's military might. The topic prior to the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference in Hanoi last month was whether U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell would meet his North Korean counterpart, and then the question was why they couldn't.
Kim recently traveled across Russia to Moscow, by train no less, for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and will host Chinese President Jiang Zemin in Pyongyang next month. For the head of bankrupt, semistarving country that has exiled itself from the international community, that isn't too bad a performance.
Some say that Kim's success is the product of his skill at blackmail. Take away the nuclear threat, and he is just another tin-pot tyrant with a bad haircut and lifts in his shoes. That isn't true. The North Koreans have played the extortion card, but they would still be a focus of international attention without it: Being able to threaten its neighbors merely gives Pyongyang a few more headlines.