Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s Dictator, Dead at 70

[Richard Simmons]

It will be interesting to see what direction his son, Kim Jong Un, takes the country.

He's only twenty-something, and if memory serves, he's had a Western education, so he might be open to some serious reforms.

North Korea's biggest problem (cult leadership aside) is its wasting fully half of its GDP on military spending year after year to the detriment of the general welfare.

If his son can take on the military establishment and reign them in, there might be hope. Of course, it could just as easily lead to a coup attempt...

The military is how his father and every other dictator stays in power. From what I've read about N. Korea the military has it much better than the civilian population and the upper ranks of the military have it better than all the rest. Even if the son wants to make a positive change I can't see the military going along with it.

[insider]

Kan't you see how fucking dead I am???

[stinker]

The military is how his father and every other dictator stays in power. From what I've read about N. Korea the military has it much better than the civilian population and the upper ranks of the military have it better than all the rest. Even if the son wants to make a positive change I can't see the military going along with it.

Yup. The corrupt machine keeping everyone in the government rich at the expense of the populace will not be interfered with. If Kim the Lesser does for some reason decide he's suddenly going to stop being a chip off of dads ol nutsack he'll either die in a tragic accident or there will actually be an election where he's almost unanimously unelected. Nothing will change for the better. The people with all the guns will not allow it.

[Justin]

I don't know, I think that his son may actually take a few notes from China and start allowing market economics into North Korea. This could also be the first step in the collapse of the regime, time will tell.

[Justin]

Wow, here's a video of the reactions of the North Korean people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccsNr9UJeVY

[mriddick]

Made for video or real life expressions of grief?

[N/A]

Made for video or real life expressions of grief?

Probabaly real. Much like the Japanese and their Emperor, the North Koreans have mostly grown up being taught he is almost like a god himself.

[Justin]

Made for video or real life expressions of grief?

Like N/A said they are probably real. The North Koreans are constantly brainwashed into thinking that Kim Jong Il was a God. The people don't even have curtains for their homes, because if you have curtains then that means, "you have something to hide." So their only choice is to agree with the state 100% of the time, and if you don't cry for the "dear leader," then you're a dead man.

[Hobe Sound AK]

I cant see a 20 Something Fat Punk Kid who was made a General by his Father, and with no experience at anything lasting too long. The General Staff, of the N.Korean Army will make quick work of him or force him to resign.

[Hobe Sound AK]

What is that Title that they gave him? First you had the Great Moron, then the Dear Moron, now I think I heard on the Radio they are calling him the Great Somthing?

[stinker]

I cant see a 20 Something Fat Punk Kid who was made a General by his Father, and with no experience at anything lasting too long. The General Staff, of the N.Korean Army will make quick work of him or force him to resign.

Hearing tale that the uncle is going to be the interim dear leader while the kid pulls his head out of his butt.
Wonder how long till he knocks the kid off?

[alismith]

I cant see a 20 Something Fat Punk Kid who was made a General by his Father, and with no experience at anything lasting too long. The General Staff, of the N.Korean Army will make quick work of him or force him to resign.

I think it will go the opposite way. He's young and inexperienced...the perfect puppet for them to exercise their control through. He doesn't have the political, nor military, connections to be a threat to them, so he has to do what they say. The only thing he has is his name and the people can relate to that. The people know him and will follow anything he tells them to do (all the while having his strings pulled behind the scenes). He'll be monitored at all times until the military feels confident he can be allowed to speak for himself (in their favor, of course).

[rahatlakhoom]

We see Kim jr. is well fed.

[Mark Ducati]

Kim Jong is dead you say? I didn't even know he was ill!

[mriddick]

Kim Jong is dead you say? I didn't even know he was ill!

I thought the punch line was... It shouldn't be a surprise, afterall everyone knew he was il.

[raxar]

It will be interesting to see what direction his son, Kim Jong Un, takes the country.

He's only twenty-something, and if memory serves, he's had a Western education, so he might be open to some serious reforms.

North Korea's biggest problem (cult leadership aside) is its wasting fully half of its GDP on military spending year after year to the detriment of the general welfare.

If his son can take on the military establishment and reign them in, there might be hope. Of course, it could just as easily lead to a coup attempt...

I could not be more disappointed in you, you've gobbled down the American imperialist propaganda. According to the tourism board it's lovely there



(only the socialists could think showing people harvesting cabbage by hand and irrigating a field with buckets and ladles shows how great life is there)

I do seriously have to ask what the climate is in North Korea, honestly every pic I see (even n00k propaganda) from there the people are bundled up and everything looks dead, do they ever have a summer or has the climate adapted to the socialist lifestyle?

[mriddick]

I could not be more disappointed in you, you've gobbled down the American imperialist propaganda. According to the tourism board it's lovely there



(only the socialists could think showing people harvesting cabbage by hand and irrigating a field with buckets and ladles shows how great life is there)

I do seriously have to ask what the climate is in North Korea, honestly every pic I see (even n00k propaganda) from there the people are bundled up and everything looks dead, do they ever have a summer or has the climate adapted to the socialist lifestyle?

My father always talked like it was very cold there, he had stories of watching people freeze to death.

[raxar]

see they're light years ahead of us

they have burgers (though I wonder what they're made from...)




and top of the line computers (wonder if this is what LAGC posts on...)

[darkheart]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6NiAGu4_8s

[LAGC]

I could not be more disappointed in you, you've gobbled down the American imperialist propaganda. According to the tourism board it's lovely there

It's like the Great Leader read the book 1984 and decided to put into practice, complete with the always-on radios and T.V.'s that you can't turn off, have to listen to Big Brother every waking second of the day.

I think the late, great polemist Christopher Hitchens summed it up quite nicely: "They don't have an atheist state, what they have is a prolific state religion revolving around worship of the Great Leader, and its drilled into everyone at a young age."

And what the fuck is up with hereditary rule? Talk about a throw back to monarchy and feudalism... at least Russian and Chinese communism put fresh blood in there each time their leader croaked.