Summary: North Korea’s artillery barrage of Yeonpyeong island, in conjunction with the sinking of the South Korean warship “Cheonan” in March, most likely is indicative of a hardline policy shift in North Korea coinciding with the military leadership cementing its control over Kim Jong-il’s successor, Kim Jong-un. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on November 24, 2009, Aubrey Immelman provided his weekly report of U.S. military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan.