I’d sure like to think that this is true:

North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Il and his generals inspect a Korean People’s Army Unit in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency on December 6. According to the report, intelligence activities against the Kim regime also are being considered. The Chinese military intelligence service, known as 2 PLA, “is toying with the idea of a palace revolution that would kick out the ‘Kim dynasty’ and replace it with ‘pro-Chinese generals,'” the report said.

Long overdue, if so. That wouldn’t be great for the North Koreans, but it has to beat the current situation. I suspect that the Chinese are getting pretty upset now, because they don’t want Japan to start to build up a nuclear arsenal.