Very much this. Kim is a lot smarter than some people give him credit for and you call tell he wants a closer relationship with China from all the stuff he's signalling. Notice how in last year's parade his boys abandoned the Soviet style march and instead switched to PLA style march so they don't seem as bouncy? That's not a coincidence. As soon as the unrest in Hong Kong started in 2019 North Korea came out with a scathing piece in their state media with the tone of "just give the word uncle and I'll crush them all under my steel tread". China had to calm him down.
Yeah I did notice the big change in the last North Korean military parade. It very 'PLA like'. Gone are the old Soviet style goose-stepping marches. The KPA's new military gear was a pleasant surprise to see. It was a remarkable achievement considering the sanctions they endured, and their lack of new (legal) military procurement in decades. This shows that the KPA have indeed been learning and modernizing their warfighting capability; with obvious input from the PLA.
Word (from 观棋有语) is this year he wants to start a Deng style economic reform as well as put in a rule that his successor no longer has to be from the Kim family.
If true, this is excellent news for NK. I think NK right now is going through a phase of reforming the domestic economy first. Opening up the country to foreign investment is probably not a priority now. Sanctions should keep Western businesses out of NK for awhile. But I think if they are one day allowed to come, NK would not really welcome them, for good reasons.
If Kim Jong Un really does reform the government to allow non-Kim family members to secede, then its a major breakthrough for NK. Hopefully they would put a meritocratic selection process in place. NK would then follow in the footsteps of China and Singapore.
The haters are always gonna look at Kim Jong Un as the 'fat rocket man'. But this is a cruel world for communist countries (except for Vietnam). I believe that just like Mao-era China, NK needs the nukes first. Only nukes can give NK relative peace of mind from an American invasion. Now that NK have the nukes, and the missiles to deliver them to Uncle Sam, SK, and Japan, can it focus more into economic development.
