Dear Leader - has died

S

Starseeker

Vault Senior Citizen
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, 69, has died

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501712_162-57344889/north-korean-leader-kim-jong-il-69-has-died/

(AP) SEOUL, South Korea — Kim Jong Il, North Korea's mercurial and enigmatic leader whose iron rule and nuclear ambitions dominated world security fears for more than a decade, has died. He was 69.

Kim's death 17 years after he inherited power from his father was announced Monday by the state television from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. The country's "Dear Leader" — reputed to have had a taste for cigars, cognac and gourmet cuisine — was believed to have had diabetes and heart disease.

North Korea has been grooming Kim's third son to take over power from his father in the impoverished nation that celebrates the ruling family with an intense cult of personality.

South Korea put its military on "high alert" and President Lee Myung-bak convened a national security council meeting after the news of Kim's death.

In a "special broadcast" Monday, state media said Kim died of a heart ailment on a train due to a "great mental and physical strain" on Saturday during a "high intensity field inspection."
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As for the guy that will take over a country at the young age of 27:

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Young+general+seen+poised+take+over+North+Korea/5879997/story.html

SEOUL, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Young and inexperienced, Kim Jong-un is seen as poised to take over North Korea with the death of his father and extend the Kim dynasty’s rule over the reclusive state for a third generation.

Not much is known about the younger Kim, not even his age, though his father, Kim Jong-il, and his autocratic regime had begun making preparations for the son’s transition to power.

Thought to be aged around 27, Kim Jong-un Had already been made a four-star general and occupied a prominent political post when he was reported to have made an important diplomatic visit to neighbouring China in May this year.

On the trip, he introduced himself to the destitute North’s main benefactor, possibly one of the most crucial diplomatic moves he will ever make.

"The rest of the world is going to have to look at someone who is basically a kid as having China’s support to be the North’s next leader," Yang Moo-min, of Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies, said at the time.

The youngest of the leader’s three sons, Kim was most likely born in 1984. His name in Chinese characters translates as "righteous cloud" while the media calls him "the young general."

Educated in Switzerland, he is thought to speak English and German, and bears a striking resemblance to his grandfather, the North’s founder, Kim Il-sung.
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Well, that came out a bit out of the blue, and I can imagine the disruption and scrambling this has caused Jong-Il has planned for his son. He does have 2 older brothers and his mother's legitimacy might be in question. Well, if the reports are true, then he should be thankful that she died thus leaving him with a clean slate. His 2 older brothers were reportedly exiled as soon as they were proven not worthy of the throne. This young leader's road to succession might not be an easy one, however, since he has barely spent 2 years on the job while his dad has a lot of help from his much beloved grandfather. I can't remember exactly, but apparently either his older sister or his aunt and her husband was deemed trustworthy enough to support the young Kim in the transition. But there is now a huge problem with that plan, since if anyone ever studied Chinese history will know, sharing of power in a dictatorship usually leads to conflicts, and a power struggle in a nation with nuclear weapons will at least makes things spicy.
 
I hate to say it, but good. Him and my Uncle Jamal are the only people who i can call genuinely evil without reprieve. Let's just hope that his son is more open to democracy.
 
Sabirah said:
I hate to say it, but good. Him and my Uncle Jamal are the only people who i can call genuinely evil without reprieve. Let's just hope that his son is more open to democracy.
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I have some reservations about writing this, but I posted it anyway since I already wrote it.

Evil, huh? I am not one to defend crazy dictators, so don't take this the wrong way, but compare to who? In terms of blood on his hands and the level of disasters he caused for personal glory, Mao can beat him on both levels. The Great Leap Forward killed more people than possibly the entire population of North Korea. The Cultural Revolution of demolishing the old and replace with the new brainwashed an entire generation of mainland Chinese citizens. What about the fact that he is dining on French wine and lobster while his citizens are starving to death? Well, officially, China just raised its level of absolute poverty more in line with UN standards, meaning, if you were dirt poor before, you are now dirt dirt poor and possibly deserving some aid. The official Chinese number of people having less than $1.25 purchasing power a day is now at 126 million, and meanwhile, malls in Beijing are getting flagship first tier luxury stores like Dunhill, Tiffany, Gucci, LV and etc. Porshe, Ferrari, Benz and Audi are doing brisk business here.

My point is, maybe I am ill-informed or I just haven't seen that many books, movies or tv shows on it, but I just don't see much of anything that deals with Mao the same way Kim has been depicted. I am not excusing what he has done, nor do I think he isn't a megalomaniac jackarse that thinks he is the country itself. Maybe my reaction to your comment stems from watching the CNN anchors cracking jokes about him just made rolled my eyes in response since I doubt he had the balls to do the same thing to PRC leaders. Western media sure likes to toe the official and paint Kim as a figure of absolute evil, but this is hypocritical considering that they are sure eager to suck up to another regime that isn't much better, but maybe worse. I mean, one really doesn't see Mao in South Park or World Police, but I would contend that Mao is just as evil if not more so in comparison of deeds to Kim or Saddam.

Anyway, I am probably just doing this.
:falloutonline: :shrug:
 
Well, he died relatively...young.
I wonder how Kim Jong-un will fill his shoes. This is really big.
 
The son looks kinda fat and probably got diabetes like his dad. time will tell however.
 
His son isn't going to lead, the military is. As long as the generals are in control, there's no hope for any democratic reforms.
 
fedaykin said:
His son isn't going to lead, the military is. As long as the generals are in control, there's no hope for any democratic reforms.
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Generals are old too.
 
Shock horror today as a demigod dies without warning, more nukes at eleven.
:V

The Generals are usually seen as slightly less insane than ol' Kimmy though so them in control might mean slightly less posturing at Japan and S Korea.
 
homefront-wallpaper-north-korean-troop.jpg
 
I'm pretty sure Americans killed him.
They've pulled all their troops out of Iraq, so it's obvious that they're preparing an assault at Pyongyang while the country is in state of distraught.
 
Only oil producing nations get the democracy treatment.

I'm sure the golf world mourns this loss heavily:
He was the best golfer the world has ever seen
In 1994, Pyongyang media reported that Kim Jong-il shot an amazing 11 holes-in-one to achieve an unprecedented 38-under-par game on a regulation 18-hole golf course - on his first try at golf.

Reports say each of his 17 bodyguards verified the record-breaking feat.
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Tagaziel said:
[spoiler:e6f0317e74]
homefront-wallpaper-north-korean-troop.jpg
[/spoiler:e6f0317e74]
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Yeah, that guy's way too well-nourished to be N. Korean.
 
Starseeker said:
snip
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But mao has been dead for years and his terrible actions haven't really reverberated until today.

Uncle Jamal and Kim Jong-Il both are and were until very recently (unfortunately) alive. and the actions that they did still hurt people today.
 
Well, pssssh, we all know they're actually a Utopian super-paradise where everyone is free to seek their own dream and rivers of milk and honey flow through the streets, but the hateful lies about rampant poverty and oppression propagated by the UN, several watchdog groups, videos smuggled out of the country, and the testimony of all those refugees and asylum-seekers are just so much easier to joke about.
 
So.... how many of us here have actually been to North Korea as opposed to just parroting what we hear on the news?
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Seeing how we are talking about a country with a closed border and a media blackout, I hardly see how that could be possible unless one is some kind of uber-spy. Not to mention the whole dynasty of dictatorship thingy that's kinda hard for the oh so evil media to invent.

So what's your point, exactly?
 
Ilosar said:
So.... how many of us here have actually been to North Korea as opposed to just parroting what we hear on the news?
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Seeing how we are talking about a country with a closed border and a media blackout, I hardly see how that could be possible unless one is some kind of uber-spy. Not to mention the whole dynasty of dictatorship thingy that's kinda hard for the oh so evil media to invent.

So what's your point, exactly?
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Actually you can tour North Korea if you belong to a special tour group...of course half the people on the tour will be North Korean spies, and you can't just go where ever you like, or photograph certain things, such as dying peasants.
 
.Pixote. said:
Ilosar said:
So.... how many of us here have actually been to North Korea as opposed to just parroting what we hear on the news?
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Seeing how we are talking about a country with a closed border and a media blackout, I hardly see how that could be possible unless one is some kind of uber-spy. Not to mention the whole dynasty of dictatorship thingy that's kinda hard for the oh so evil media to invent.

So what's your point, exactly?
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Actually you can tour North Korea if you belong to a special tour group...of course half the people on the tour will be North Korean spies, and you can't just go where ever you like, or photograph certain things, such as dying peasants.
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...


NMA roadtrip ?

:lol: I'd be down for that, we could make a documentery
 
Actually you can tour North Korea if you belong to a special tour group...of course half the people on the tour will be North Korean spies, and you can't just go where ever you like, or photograph certain things, such as dying peasants.
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...Which is called a closed border (ever looked at the DMZ?) and a media blackout. Even the tours are specifically designed to make you see good things. Go to places they don't want you to, political officiers are immediately on your ass. Now if North Korea (apparently) isin't so bad, why is that?
 
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