South Korea

[Regarding refugee policy] the tendency [in Asia] is to look inward, preserve domestic stability and improve domestic welfare, especially given that many Asian nations, including South Korea, still have weak welfare systems compared to the West - even though they are wealthy and highly developed.

This would be financially and logistically impossible to manage should there be a migration crisis across the 38th parallel and/or unification.

[Refugee] groups are largely isolated from Korean society and associated with the migrant worker class. But the migrant workers have their own issues and problems and they have separate legal standing and labor policies that govern their stay [in South Korea].

No one knows why Kim Jong-un is out of sight, but he has been the most public of the three dynastic leaders [in North Korea]. He may also be facing personal challenges -- he does have a family -- a wife and at least one child. Perhaps there is illness or some other problem. Again, who knows?