After Iran and Venezuela, Kim Jong Un must decide how to handle Trump

Last weekend, North Korean state media condemned the United States and Israel for launching a “war of aggression” against Iran, but did not report the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with dozens of members of Iran’s top leadership. That omission was not accidental. North Korea’s political system is built around the near-mythic authority and invulnerability of its leader. Publicly broadcasting the violent removal of another supreme leader would introduce a dangerous precedent. It would remind North Korean citizens that even the most powerful figure in a tightly controlled state can be tracked, targeted and eliminated. That is not a…