Inheriting power from his father in 1994, he led his nation through a devastating famine while frustrating the U.S. and other global powers with an on-again, off-again approach to talks on giving up nuclear arms in return for energy and other assistance. Kim was one of the last remnants of a Cold War-era that ended years earlier in most other countries…
CBS News correspondent Celia Hatton reports news of Kim’s death was met with a flood of televised emotion in North Korea, as state TV showed orderly columns of state officials weeping dramatically, and ordinary North Koreans beside themselves in apparent grief on the streets of Pyongyang.
In South Korea, however, like much of the rest of the world, the news provoked concern. Hatton reports that South Korea put its military on high alert Monday, even calling off-duty troops back to work in the event of any provocations from the North.
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Kim Jong Il has been downgraded to Kim Jong Dead.
guess we’ll soon hear Newt and his gonna-be Sec of State Bolton claim that now is the perfect time to attack Pyongyang.
be assured that somehow, whatever the outcome of Dear Leader’s death Obama will be blamed …
Though anyone who advocates any kind of ground attack on NK has clearly never spent time on the ground over there . . .
Let us hope that peace and sanity prevail.
The heir apparent is 27 years old, and became a ” 4 star general ” last year. Not good for security in the region.
and he looks super competent, doesn’t he?
No doubt he’s being played as a puppet by some shit-for-brains communist general in the background who has no idea what’s going on in the world, but has hard on for war of any type.
Pretty damn dangerous for the region, and if you look at it, Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul (4 major population centers) are not far at all from Pyongyang. Its giving people in the area jitters.
I don’t even know if Son Number Three even has what it takes to remain in power. I seem to recall that he wasn’t the generals’ first choice, but it’s hard to tell if he’s managed to turn things around or find the right set of supporters to maintain control.
My opinion is that he won’t last six months.
another Bush? Gawd, will we ever be free from the grasping DNA of this accursed family? (I hate to admit it, but sometimes eugenics has a sort of appeal.)
Perfect time to nuke ’em.
What we need to do now is create an opening for Jong Il’s son to end the repression and starvation of his own people. I believe Cuba and North Korea are on similar paths, and within a few years, both will experience counterrevolution and rejoin the world community.
He lifted that argument right off of redstate. Not that it isn’t a good idea, but it isn’t A-BOT’s.
“Why God wants America to Nuke Iran This Christmas” diary.
North Korea and Cuba would be similar, except there’s still technically a war going on with North Korea, and the nation as a whole seems to run toward paranoia.
Kim Jong Un might be a more rational person to talk to, but he’s probably not really in charge right now – the military generals are most likely running the show until KJU manages to demonstrate his ability to consolidate power and win his position from the generals. This is likely to be a tense few months or years – the generals aren’t known for their moderate desire to end the war.
… where Raul Castro seems to be a slightly more moderate person who really is in charge, and the U.S. has at least mostly gotten past the reason we isolated Cuba in the first place – the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
with the outside world via tourism (just not Americans) and technology, as contrasted with a North Korea that is wholly closed and insular.
Two completely different worlds and situations IMHO, and not anywhere nearly so black and white as ArapaGOP would like to believe.
… you would flip out and declare him an appeaser, soft on commies, etc. Hell, Obama saying the phrase “world community” alone would make your head explode. Just sayin’.
she has gone to Cuba every winter for over 20 years to preach and help build community. I think when we normalize relations she’ll move there. She says that the Cuban govt has never taken interest in her group’s activities.
His death comes just when he was poised to win the Iowa Republican caucus as the most stridently anti-Obama candidate;-(
BTW, what did he die from? Did he choke on a ham sandwich like Mama Cass?
“Physical exhaustion”
He had a stroke in 2008, and it’s rumored that he contracted pancreatic cancer some time after that. So unless someone wants to read something fun into the official cause of death, I’d say he ran out of time due to the course of nature.
so there’s gonna be another Kim under glass? Don’t they still have daddy Kim on display just like V.I. in Moscow?
So let’s tally up 2011 …
– the big C chasing down Chavez and Castro — the people chased down Gaddafi, Mubarak, & Pres Ben-Ali
– Berlusconi outta Italy
– military softening in Myanmar
– Osama taken out along w/ most of al-Q’s higher ups
Here’s to hoping the trend continues into 2012.
North Korean news reports that Kim had a heart attack on Saturday from which he never recovered.
made me laugh today !
The World lost a great golfer today. He played once, shot a 38 under par with 11 holes in 1 and then “satisfied with his effort” retired from golf.
Tiger Woods wife beat the shit out of him and decided the upside wasn’t enough.