chance to talk to the director of the far east studies of the russian cademy of science alexander and i've been there seven thank you so much for joining us. north korea remains one of the few mysteries today everything is known information about everything can be found easily but north korea maintains that shroud of secrecy while. they were it happened so that for centuries korea was detached from the rest of the outside world this has to do with the fact that back in the middle ages that frequently suffered from invasions by the mumbles and japanese this convince the ruling class that the country would live better if it reduced its contacts with the surrounding countries to a minimum as a result koreans were even banned from setting up settlements in certain locations particularly on the sea shore information inflow was controlled and restricted when japan occupied korea in the early twentieth century this policy was preserved by the occupants in order to retain this colony under its control the first thing

japan did was to take all the foreign relations of korea under its control and start the japanese ational korea the koreans were forced to adopt japanese names not to speak the korean language under japanese language was proclaimed of fishel and so forth all this dark legacy both historical and cultural has to a great extent affected the views of the korean leaders. but not only is korea an informational mystery it's also one of the very few remaining islands of socialism communism how does it maintain to do that. the fact of the matter is that the koreans proved to be very consistent in their convictions korea as with china is a confucian country where confucianism dominates the thinking of the habits of the people to quote one example when china had given up most of the confucian traditions korea was rigorously following them all the same so when chinese scientists wanted to find some information about confucian rituals they had to go

to seoul for the relevant documents it so happened that when the northern part of a. korea came to believe in communism and socialism it became an even greater teacher of a then the soviet union itself and other socialist countries which have already given up this ideology and system while in korea just like in china they are still trying to build socialism in the korean fashion their own model of socialism. but today in the twenty first century away economic ties down the world do you think that this policy of isolation will help north korea progress economically laville flawless that are there is no doubt that the country needs its foreign economic relations expanded as according to estimates by foreign specialists on the understanding cern by north korea itself it would be impossible to modernize the economy without investment from outside i would like to draw your attention to something i find very interesting there has been much talk in the west

about north korea opening up and its integration into the world community however real policy has very often at odds with statements some sort of best area broke out in the media recently around the fact of the swedish department store began selling jeans manufactured in north korea if the west is really interested in north korea developing some industries for it to enter foreign markets and thus having people interested in contacts with the outside world working with it what's trapped with the selling of a batch of jeans posed to the western world safety and well being it would be absolutely and significant in terms of economic competition the same apply it to the joint north and south korean industrial complex in case on a free trade agreement was signed between the u.s. and south korea several years ago which has not yet been ratified but the refusal of us to include spoons and forks and other consumer goods manufactured out earlier into the agreement was one of the stumbling blocks the us did not agree for

a few million dollars to enter the markets and yet it's hard to imagine how this could threaten the u.s. and one of the economies. so in your opinion it's beneficial in some ways for certain countries like the united states for example to have korea isolated. the village. unfortunately we have to draw this conclusion we cannot explain everything entirely by north korea but of course much depends on the past on the traditions on the fear of opening up because that may lead to an desirable political consequences on the other hand they say north korea needs to become a civilized country and to be integrated into the world community there never too keen really to do things to let it happen what's more the west and the united states in particular need a bad guy in that region to justify their military presence in the southern part of the korean peninsula and to perm and deploying their missile defense systems there

that's something that's been done there and somewhat more actively done in europe indeed until now the u.s. and allied military presence in the region was justified by the soviet threat but it's been twenty years now since the soviet union however the u.s. is not going to give up their military alliances established during the cold war now it's very convenient to have a bad guy in pyongyang but can be used as a scapegoat for everything now it seems ok to have talks with russia or china and smiled and keep face saying because of kim jong il we have to keep our troops and send our aircraft carriers there. and the north korean at threat is appears this face will be hard to keep as it will be clear who the troops on the missile defense are actually. it will be obvious that it's not against north korea weakened and worn out by long economic turmoil but against a rising china and russia as well. so recent statements from people like former president jimmy carter who went to korea and said that he saw

signs of north korea willing to work with the six party talks and take steps toward denuclearizing itself do you think that's just good p.r. . i think that carter sense the. moved to north korea he's an experienced politician has been there more than once the thing is that north korea realizes that without an agreement with the united states it won't be able to solve its main problem the removal of the military threats north korea was really frightened by the events in iraq in yugoslavia when the us unilaterally change the regimes in both those countries even without the consent of the united nations north korea is really afraid of that secondly it's a worry but due to the u.s. sanctions it will have difficulties to get money from international financial institutions and other countries to modernize its economy this explains the fact that north korea is quite consistently pursuing the policy of signing bilateral

agreements first and foremost with the u.s. and then a multilateral agreements such as those but just by the six party talks north korea demands that they should have talks with the u.s. and then proceed further north korea views the us as posing the biggest threat and believes that the main obstacle for their economic development comes from the u.s. standing in the way of international aid. let's try move from a economical and political war towards the personal you've spent so much time in north korea i believe you've even met kim jong il personally what kind of a man is he. i met kim jong il both as a journalist and the diplomats in particular during the then president putin's visit to north korea in two thousand i carefully read what a number of state leaders had met him as a president wrote about him. wanted to say that kim jong il appears is an energetic and informed person who knows what he does and knows what to strive for i think

that the stereotypes appearing regularly in western and frankly also in russian people are caissons about some unpredictable politician and regime are absolutely ungrounded because an irrational and unpredictable politician would hardly be able to hold power in his hands for the past two decades when many revolutions broke out and many countries actually disappeared money expected the north korean regime to fall however for a number of reasons including truly pragmatic and realistic policy and the ability to outplay the enemy even though some small thing as the north korean regime managed to survive. and you mention that the north korean leader knows what he wants for his country and from his country he's calling a party meeting that hasn't been held in thirty years and many in the west specifically are very excited trying to guess why exactly or what he's trying to

tell the world by doing that what do you think and the purpose of the conference and the workers party meeting well yes the good. if we talk about detail the only thing known to be on the agenda of the forthcoming conference are the elections for the governing bodies of the ruling party and it really makes sense for it's been forty four years since the previous conference and thirty years since the previous party congress money leaders who used to be members of the governing politburo in secretariat have died the central committee must by now have less than half the men from the original list so it appears to be high time for elections the second thing on the agenda which is. perhaps the key thing is about a successor to the incumbent leader it's no secret that there have been many reports about his weakened health at the same time go many people have met some including people from russia and in particular cultural figures who often go there believe those rumors are exaggerated i can't rule out the possibility that kim jong

il has begun to ponder about his possible successor who would have to lead the country after he himself leaves the political arena but i don't think the conference is due to pronounce anyone as a successor most likely such a person would simply be elected into the government which will allow him to prove his eligibility by his achievements in areas he would be in charge of. now if kim jong il decides to follow in his father's footsteps and name his son as his successor there is very little known about the man what what do we know who is he what does he what does he what have what he bring to north korea. first of all i think we shouldn't expect any dramatic changes right away because power in north korea is built on succession and continuity principles kim jong il became a leader first and foremost thanks to his image of a true follower of his father's legacy and ideas not of some destroyer of the foundations or the person to lead the country's policy into

a sharp turn so obviously the same is going to apply to kim jong il successor if it should be one of his sons for example i shall not make any predictions as to which of them it could be there is much talk about the third song and anyway this would be a young person who hasn't earned much authority in the party or the country and was not very widely known and i don't think that kim jong il is going to quit entirely now he will continue ruling the country as long as his health from the circumstances allow that's why the decisions to be made by the conference will in their essence be shaping the environment under circles loyal to the new successor some advisors who will guide them through the challenging situation north korea is in these days at the beginning of the twenty first century.

moscow's long time mayor your english cop has been given the sack after nearly two decades in power to the tribune yet of side of the loss of confidence in the mayor as a reason for his dismissal. and what's next for china russia relations. figuring that out in shanghai meeting with a band who might just be the next leader of china vice president xi jinping is thought by many to be the most likely successor to jintao. could aliens have control over the world's nuclear weapons a group of retired u.s. air force officers thinks so and they've given sworn affidavits claiming that strange events for us can be explained by the stars. while russian officials are doing all they can to stand the inflow of drugs from

central asia police are also dealing with a problem amateur that's making their own and they're finding that simple household products are all that's needed to make an illegal back. well time now for sports a day and years old and a promise to a lot of sporting action and who aren't you looking forward to another night of european football tonight as well as you all. so you're so hoping for two wins from two games this evening in the champions league i believe the details just start to. hello there welcome to the sport and this is what is coming. moscow target top spot in the champions league as they prepare to host. plus chelsea believe they'll return to winning ways against french champions most. and ice in

the. the daughter of as the russian hockey legend starts his second season make a chair. fast but at last it will be seeking to make it two wins out of two in the champions league when they take on jay leno the usually can stadium tonight rich and poor figure up to what is a good opportunity to top their great. spotlight find themselves in a great position going into match stage two a fantastic one nil win away and must say as given by lady carp inside a good chance even of this early stage of trying to make the knockout stages of the first time since one thousand nine hundred six but let's go it's opponents from survive here maybe the group outsiders this past like say coach says his team certainly won't be underestimated moment. to be one of the there are absolutely no problems with being motivated for this match as it's impossible not to be going into a champions league encounter it doesn't matter who the opponent is be it chelsea

marsay or. we may be a bit tired going into the much as we will have played two games in just three days it's been a long time since apartheid last one champions league match at home in fact the red and white have failed to win in this competition revolution at the stadium in over a decade cup inside will certainly be looking to put that right on tuesday and he says he certainly won't be worrying about any statistics. going into the game with man say everyone was saying that russian clubs weren't able to win in france but we made it to win over there a couple of weeks ago or so we're not going to take any notice of any statistics and is hoping that we'll get a result we need on tuesday to. spots are getting good form recently in the russian premier league but in find of the last seven of brazilian strike a valid turn scoring nine times during this period their opponent as you lena have enjoyed some patchy form over the last month including a four one defeat to chelsea in their group opener the carpenters he won't be

taking them lightly because of let it come to think of it i know for a fact that our opponents don't have a player in the class of someone like leo messi and you have a good striker called c.c. who for someone who so too is very good with the ball at his feet and i have a feeling he could cause us one or two problems spartak will have a great chance to make it two wins out of two on tuesday when they take on the group leaders and if they can get their first home champions league win in over a decade they'll be a strong position going into big double header with the group favorites chelsea which bump or played r.t. moscow so chelsea still sings the strongest side in the group they thrash elina last time and host french champions marsay tonight the london side what we without star striker didier drogba though will miss playing against his former club as he says the last of his three match ban are being sent off in last season's quarterfinal also added frank lampard who is recovering from a hernia operation chelsea boss their first premier league game of the domestic

campaign to manage to sit in that coach carlo until lottie isn't untrue worried. i don't need. to see a reaction from i think that they will do. a very good game because it is an important game for us to go first place of. the group. for do is. also hope to bounce back after suffering a defeat at the hands of lowly west brom the gunners are a part of sam belgrade the saving looking for when number two after sticking six past braga but they'll have to do without six key plays for the game goalkeeper almunia is out with an elbow injury says fabric gas is also sidelined along with bent over marlin and walcott but bangor has faith in the squad i believe but. i have the same contradiction or between two players i have very little. or no motive and we can play a bit of in what we do don't try to do what you want to show tomorrow night re on

the grid coach josie marino is also after performances side by side with aaron franzen haven't had the best start in the league they sit third in the table in spain after being held to a goal destroy against their van take the weekend every new doesn't think it will be straightforward to not. expect the difficult again. is difficult to play. against a team that plays the first match at home. version of. a very very hard. and the muse grew organized. and i'm with you for the difficult much now let's catch up with the latest from the russian premier league where two wins from three games still hasn't been enough or courageous of yet of to climb out of the relegation zone the same our side easing to a three nil win over angie and monday so fixture at least seemed to understand their predicament blasting home three first half goals to stroll to victory the

first was inside the first alexander drive deflecting its way past the keep. even of them made it to with another scrappy go. you can't though i was seventeen from you get me sad in right before the break had the tie done and dusted so three know was the final score the smart side remain second from bottom and the relegation. this is the penalty. so after week twenty two of thirty eight seventy two remain very much the team to catch this in petersburg men lie four points ahead of champions the rubin defending champions rubin but have they have two games in hand a third also with matches in hand last part now to rostov moscow a scrapping for the two euro cup spots while down the other end it's korea and sabir in the drop zone and

a just above them. on the ice metal it might need to course have gone joint top of the k h l their one their win over forty regulation time enough to put them at the summit level on points have been armaments other matches on monday night sore scar b. c. a scar after a penalty shoot out it's a big got the better of guard and you'll get defeated than amerigo. so it could start the metallurgical be hoping for another influential season from the door of he came back to russia after winning three stanley cups in the n.h.l. so how is the finding life in central russia you spoke with dan. the twentieth of july two thousand and nine the kontinental hockey league strike gold three time in the chill stanley cup winner a surrogate father of returns to russia to join kate chill side middle income and get a good risk. scored by a russian born player in the n.h.l. you need skating skills combined with outstanding defensive ability all these

qualities have made experts define thorough as three great players in one so would good one of the most outstanding russian ice will be players ever do the food of the urals to monitor boris and particular. my brother played a few years back my father was in good contact with the former management former director of the team former manager of the team and my brother played pretty well for this club two years back especially in play offs so in connection with war there an interest always for. very big compared to other clubs and annoying but worse because a solid hockey club brought up the right four players were really good. i mean a really good market and the services also. financially very stable and also it was

a dream of mine and my family also to play together with my brother one of russia's biggest steel and iron works that's what this city of little girls is best known for it could be seen like a pretty boring environment where not hokey superstar buster gave thought of has always proved that yeah it's looking into the future both on and off the ice i think. any cities like this like industrial cities will present something really really. quality let's say we have couple of legs here we have. ball environments here where you can go. i don't know and do sightseeing or you can go you can go and. walk around we've been to the factory factories incredible biggest factor in probably i would say in europe and. really really. do a lot of business and

a lot of steel so technology there it's been really really good so it was an interesting trip too but as far as the city it's simple city but everything we need we have here and it's very comfortable. when it comes to cubans we get chills major to freak the government killed must be top priority no free roll through the roof who's won just about everything there is to win the ice well professionals here and . any predictions obviously you need to back them up and well certain precious already applied to. team our new coach for a new manager and so i'm not going to be. predicting anything but. in the next like month or two we really will know or we really will feel how far we can go a stunning twenty. one more n.h.l.

record store the week in the household what he's all too much here chill were time lord still ahead robert r t. yeah i'm sure play another big part this season now in the n.f.l. chicago have kept up their hundred percent record a field goal which is four seconds left saw them beat green bay twenty points to seventeen that result makes in three nights of the season and points them on top of the n.f.c. north chicago taking a fourteen ten lead in the fourth when there is as larry david his first touchdown returned bringing us running sixty eight so yeah. the teams were tied at seventeen a pace closer and it was a penalty that's fine separating them robbing to be important taking showing a bad young undefeated start so. that brings us to the end of the sport more of it likes.

the mayor of moscow you the last pope has been fired the kremlin says russian president lost confidence in the cities. and what's next for russia china relations which are may get us figuring that out in shanghai spending some time with a man whom might just be the next leader of china. could aliens have control over the world's nuclear weapons a group of retired u.s. air force officers thinks so. it is one pm of the russian capital you're watching r t was marina joshie welcome to the program a russian president dmitry medvedev has signed

a decree firing the moscow mayor you are who was in power for almost two decades the kremlin says it was due to a loss of confidence in the city's top official art isn't telling all because a joins us live from moscow for more i'll tell you what legacy does the euro was cough we've behind. all of you the list of left a very controversial legacy the most obliging that can be seen by the naked eye the one for example even repealed the price they get the feature which is considered to be one of the most beautiful buildings in moscow on the other hand he's left a lot of bars on the face of the russian capital such as this huge monument if you can see behind me the money even the feeder the grades created by the georgian arts is that up to the village which is probably the most hated piece of architecture by most of the boys and things like that can be seen throughout the russian capital everywhere in the world have to thank you delusional for that let's now listen to what people in the street think about it.