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Kim Jong Il Dead: North Korea Leader Dies At 69!
DaltheJigsaw
Mountain View Veteran
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean television announced in a "special broadcast" that its leader Kim Jong Il has died in Pyongyang, the AP reports. He was 69.
Kim's death was announced Monday from the state capital of Pyongyang. He reportedly suffered a stroke in 2008, but appeared relatively healthy on recent trips around Asia, which were documented by state media.
Reuters adds that the country had begun transferring power to his son, Kim Jong-un, who is believed to be in his late 20s.
Michael Van Poppel tweeted that Kim was given as much first-aid attention as possible, but died at 8:30 a.m. according to the state television report.
More from the AP:
The leader, reputed to have had a taste for cigars, cognac and gourmet cuisine, was believed to have had diabetes and heart disease.
The news came as North Korea prepared for a hereditary succession. Kim Jong Il inherited power after his father, revered North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, died in 1994.
In September 2010, Kim Jong Il unveiled his third son, the twenty-something Kim Jong Un, as his successor, putting him in high-ranking posts.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/18/kim-jong-il-dead-north-korea_n_1156945.html
Kim's death was announced Monday from the state capital of Pyongyang. He reportedly suffered a stroke in 2008, but appeared relatively healthy on recent trips around Asia, which were documented by state media.
Reuters adds that the country had begun transferring power to his son, Kim Jong-un, who is believed to be in his late 20s.
Michael Van Poppel tweeted that Kim was given as much first-aid attention as possible, but died at 8:30 a.m. according to the state television report.
More from the AP:
The leader, reputed to have had a taste for cigars, cognac and gourmet cuisine, was believed to have had diabetes and heart disease.
The news came as North Korea prepared for a hereditary succession. Kim Jong Il inherited power after his father, revered North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, died in 1994.
In September 2010, Kim Jong Il unveiled his third son, the twenty-something Kim Jong Un, as his successor, putting him in high-ranking posts.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/18/kim-jong-il-dead-north-korea_n_1156945.html
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Comments
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I found a quote on that thread.
"The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress: the hate of men will pass and dictators die and the power they took from the people, will return to the people and so long as men die [now] liberty will never perish..."
- Charlie Chaplin, "The Great Dictator"
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1TSNF_enUS451US451&q=Kim+Jong-un&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=E8nuTuXYLbKGiQKP7sD0Aw&biw=1366&bih=653&sei=F8nuTqKEDMiOiALnh6m-BA
Oh, and he was a cinematic genius, too. North Korea, bitches!
:rolleyes: *NSFW*
We will all suffer pain and death.
So he is no different in that regard but during his life he helped cause untold suffering and death for many others.
His death does the world a service.
Where Bekenze? On the news article I saw, it stated that he was never seen in any media photos of film until kim released that image I spoke of.
"He attended the English-language International School of Berne, Switzerland until 1998 under a pseudonym."
Or maybe I am wrong.
Aw, sorry; I'm still controlled by my ignorance and delusion. If a mod thinks I've overstepped the mark with my bad joke, please delete.
I hope and believe Kim Jong-Il was a one-of-a-kind personality, not unlike Hitler; I know the system is still in place, but I think without his presence and all the mythology of his "being," what comes next will not be as bad. I think his son is undisciplined and wants to play video games; he's just not the same character. The cabal is aging, and even in North Korea, outside info is slowly seeping in via cellphones. For better or worse (better in this case, without question!) pop culture will do its thing. Maybe this is the only case in modern history where commercial culture can be said to have been a power mostly for good--mainly because there's not much that has been left standing in North Korea to be destroyed by it, in turn.
North Korea is the only situation in my lifetime where I, as a pacifist, felt it would actually be kinder to invade and overthrow, even with all the certain death that would bring, since the existing state--little more than a massive concentration camp--was so horrifically cruel and would unquestionably cause more death and suffering if left in place.
That is it looks like after a great golfer and god had died.
It takes more than pop culture to bring down a regime. The Beatles didn't affect the Soviet regime, contrary to their own wishful thinking. One aged dictator was replaced by another and by another. Only when Gorbachev loosened up and tried to address the failing economy by allowing criticism did events spin out of control.
Isn't N. Korea allied with China? Maybe the new ruler will try a Chinese-style opening up culturally and economically, while maintaining the political status quo. At this point, anything is pure speculation. We can hope for the best, but I wouldn't bet on a bright future for N. Korea just yet.
I'm happy for the Korean people that this tyrant is gone. I wish KJI an auspicious rebirth, as I do for all sentient beings. His karmic account was severely depleted by what he's done in this lifetime, so he will reap that reward in future lives, just as we all will.
I pray that whomever takes over power in North Korea will see the absurdity of their situation and try to do something that is not totally ego driven and will actually help the people. I don't expect it, but I hope for it none the less.
True that, though sometimes it takes a few generations for change to take hold, and I'd also say that with the internet and cellphones, ideas travel a lot more rapidly than in Soviet times. The Swiss-made Tibetan "Shapale" video was being thumbed-up in China and Tibet within hours of it hitting the cyberwaves, lol. And being "harmonized" shortly after that.
Incidentally, China just passed (well, decreed) a law requiring people to use their real names, addresses and telephone numbers before being allowed to participate in online forums and other social media. Micro-blogging service providers have to verify the identity of their users within 3 months.