Kim Jong-un hasn’t been seen in a while.  His sister seems to be in control in his absence.  Entrance and exit permits are reportedly revoked in Pyongyang.  North Korea and China are not happy with each other, so top North Korean government officials are visiting South Korea to talk about re-unification again.  They do this as a threat to China, which needs a pliant North Korea on its border, not a western-leaning unified state.  Of course, the U.S. also doesn’t want re-unification.  It needs the relationship between the south and the north to be always on the edge in order to keep its control over the south.  Tension between China and North Korea cause sympathy for the north in South Korea.

Lots of good background on the “hermit kingdom” from Justin Raimondo here: