Few Iraqis will forget the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in April 2003, when an American M88 armored vehicle played a major role in pulling down one of the most symbolic representations of Saddam's previously iron grip on power.

But while questions continue to be asked about just how spontaneous the event actually was, the imagery – and subsequent effects of Washington's controversial policy of de'bathification – often prompts questions about what will happen in the event of a similar change of political system in North Korea.