This week in the saga

The hermit kingdom blinks first, agreeing to suspend its nuclear tests and shut a major site; the king reads it as his own doing and looks ahead to the summit. The press writes him ninety-three percent bad and still, he marvels, his numbers stand near their highest — he no longer believes a word they print. He rages at the double standard, a loyal general's life destroyed while the leaker he despises sells a book and grows rich. And beneath all the wars runs the ledger: jobs up, taxes down, enjoy it. For one strange spring, every war seems to be going his way.