However, over the past year or so, something strange has begun to happen in Pyongyang. The North Korean leadership has taken some actions that have clearly damaged the interests of the ruling clique. It seems that the once formidable manipulators have for some reason lost their ability to judge and plan.

The recent currency reform is the best example of such weird and self-defeating policy decisions. For years, the Pyongyang government has waged campaigns against the unofficial and semi-official markets that have played a decisive role in North Korea's economic life since the collapse of the state-run economy in the 1990s. As another move in this ongoing (and, perhaps, unwinnable) struggle, last November the government initiated currency reform that was meant to undermine the power of black-market merchants....

The unprecedented decision to raise wages doomed the entire affair from the start. But why was it done? Why was an otherwise standard package of well-tested measures saddled with this self-defeating (and, frankly, stupid) addition?...

Meanwhile, the North Korean government also did something it has never done before: it said "sorry" to the people. In January, Nodong Sinmun, a government mouthpiece, reported that Dear Leader Kim Jong-il felt bad for being unable to provide his subjects with the level of material affluence they were once promised....

In accordance with the new mood, a high-level official allegedly expressed his regret about the chaos created by the currency reform while addressing a large group of the party faithful. This might appear like normal behavior, but in a dictatorship that claims the possession of absolute truth and an infallible leader, such statements are very unusual - and, indeed, dangerous. They are likely to be seen as signs of fallibility and weakness, and every dictator knows that such signs should not be shown.

In other words, something has changed in Pyongyang recently - seemingly, after Kim's illness in late 2008, when he reportedly suffered a stroke. The most likely explanation seems to be biological: the increasing inability of the ailing dictator to pass reasonable judgments and control people around him....

At any rate, something unusual seems to be happening in Pyongyang and it's probably the time to think about the future a bit more seriously. We are heading towards serious changes, and unfortunately nobody seems prepared.