INTELLIGENCE

President Jiang Zemin's handlers are stepping up their attempts to build a personality cult around their boss. A source within the group preparing for China's 50th anniversary celebrations in October says the president's men want large portraits of their boss displayed prominently during the day-long affair. They will most likely be carried along the parade route, held aloft by some of the 20,000 participants in the celebration. Jiang's entourage will be atop the Tiananmen Gate to review the parade - whic h is almost sure (although it's not been announced publicly yet) to include a show of military hardware. That sort of review hasn't been seen since 1984, when Deng Xiaoping once reviewed the troops at Tiananmen from his Red Flag limousine.

Restive critics are increasingly worried that Jiang is trying to exploit the very tactics his mentor, Deng, tried to minimize. Consider, along with the anniversary plans, the possible publication of the first volume of the selected works of Jiang either i n this auspicious year or at the beginning of the new millennium; the political predominance given his teachings on "Talk Politics"; and the constant reference to him in the press as the country's "core" - and you see reason for concern.

KIM TO KIM: SEE YOU IN BEIJING

Within Seoul's diplomatic circles, there is strong speculation that President Kim Dae Jung is pushing for a summit with Kim Jong Il when the northern leader visits Beijing, most likely in September. There is no indication of how either the reclusive Kim or China view the plan. But Kim Dae Jung is under pressure to show tangible and positive results from Pyongyang before his "Sunshine Policy" of engaging the North loses its shine (see Tackling a Conundrum). Some South Koreans are beginning to ask if it is worth providing North Korea with millions of dollars in aid, much of it in hard-to-come-by hard currency, without some sort of tangible results. And while his American allies are trumpeting fears about the North's de velopment of nuclear capabilities and missile programs, the Blue House sees the threat as years away from becoming a reality. Kim is operating on another level: he wants to leave office as the president who broke through the barrier that has kept the Kore ans divided for more than fifty years.

DIPLOMATS DEPART BANGKOK

Two embassies in Bangkok have closed or will soon shut their doors, and both will apparently use their missions in Kuala Lumpur to cover Thai affairs. Colombia's ambassador Joaquin Mejia closed up shop some weeks ago, and Lebanon will soon follow. Lebanon 's ambassador Vatcheh Nourbatlian has already returned home and his number two, Mira Violides, will haul down the flag and shutter the mission soon. The cause is two-fold: partially, they are cost-cutting moves. But they are also diplomatically reciprocal . The Thais have strong (but pared down) missions in East Asia, Western Europe and North America - but for the rest of the world, it is pretty much a blank. Perhaps spurred by the exodus, PM Chuan Leekpai hopes to boost Latin American ties with a visit to Brazil, Argentina and Peru in late May - the first visit by a Thai leader to South America. Given the many trips that Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad has made there and the air link of Malaysian Airlines to Buenos Aires, it is evident why K.L. might rate m ore highly than Bangkok.