Reuben F. Johnson, Washington Free Beacon

Observers of Pyongyang in China say the North Korea is becoming a “closed box” in terms of understanding who is in charge and how decisions are being made by the leadership.

“No one here really knows what is going on in the DPRK,” said one analyst. “And there is increasing skepticism that this young kid (current dictator, Kim Jong-un) is really calling the shots. Meanwhile, the linkages that the PRC used to have with the North have almost all disappeared and there are almost no opportunities to re-engage along some other level.”

Military ties between the two communist states that dated back to the Korean War are virtually gone. That older generation of military leaders who fought alongside one another and continued to cooperate long after the war was over has gradually died off. There is very little engagement and even less trust today within the current generation ranks of the two military establishments.

The December 2013 purging and execution of Kim’s once all-powerful uncle Jang Song-thaek caught Beijing completely off-guard. … Chinese intelligence had missed – or chose to ignore – the warning signs that Jang’s downfall was imminent. … Jang had been the primary point of contact in relations between Beijing and Pyongyang. He was trying to promote a reform of the North’s economy similar to what the PRC tried to sell to the previous DPRK dictator, the late Kim Jong-il.

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  Background-Brief.com, China’s special relationship with North Korea has changed as war veterans fade away