http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2011/12/kim-jong-il
NORTH KOREAN state media has just announced the death of leader Kim Jong Il. According to the report (on this site, when it's not overwhelmed by traffic), he passed away on Saturday 17th December, at 8.30am, while travelling on a train to visit an area outside of Pyongyang.
The report, delivered by a tearful, black-clad announcer, claimed that he died due to "an advanced acute myocardial infarction, complicated by serious heart shock," which was caused by "a great mental and physical strain caused by his uninterrupted field guidance tour for the building of a thriving nation." It is of course no secret that he had been unwell for several years, having suffered a stroke in 2008, and often appearing frail in public appearances.
Kim’s declining health had prompted the regime to accelerate progress towards the planned succession of his third son, Kim Jong Un. The report itself exhorted viewers to “loyally follow” the Swiss-educated, would-be third-generation leader, whom his father chose ahead of two elder sons, apparently due a ruthless streak that runs beneath his pudgy features.
Still in his late twenties, and with very little experience of leadership, the younger Kim may yet face trouble when it comes to grasping the reins of power. Kim Jong Il himself had already been the heir-apparent to his father, the founder of the North Korean state, Kim Il Sung, for almost two decades before he was declared the country’s “Dear Leader” and thrust upon the throne of the Democratic People’s Republic in 1975. Kim Jong Un will have no such luxury. But that does not mean that crisis is imminent. Kim Han-jong, who visited North Korea with South Korea’s President Kim Dae-jung at a momentous summit in 2000, states we should “not expect Kim Jong Il’s death to be followed by big political change”, owing to China’s apparent support for the regime as well as to the internal efforts to speed up the succession.
South Korea is however on a state of high alert. The KOSPI index dived 3% at noon, following the announcement. In the coming days, all eyes will be on Pyongyang, and the attempts of one young man to lay his claim to the world’s only communist monarchy.
NORTH KOREAN state media has just announced the death of leader Kim Jong Il. According to the report (on this site, when it's not overwhelmed by traffic), he passed away on Saturday 17th December, at 8.30am, while travelling on a train to visit an area outside of Pyongyang.
The report, delivered by a tearful, black-clad announcer, claimed that he died due to "an advanced acute myocardial infarction, complicated by serious heart shock," which was caused by "a great mental and physical strain caused by his uninterrupted field guidance tour for the building of a thriving nation." It is of course no secret that he had been unwell for several years, having suffered a stroke in 2008, and often appearing frail in public appearances.
Kim’s declining health had prompted the regime to accelerate progress towards the planned succession of his third son, Kim Jong Un. The report itself exhorted viewers to “loyally follow” the Swiss-educated, would-be third-generation leader, whom his father chose ahead of two elder sons, apparently due a ruthless streak that runs beneath his pudgy features.
Still in his late twenties, and with very little experience of leadership, the younger Kim may yet face trouble when it comes to grasping the reins of power. Kim Jong Il himself had already been the heir-apparent to his father, the founder of the North Korean state, Kim Il Sung, for almost two decades before he was declared the country’s “Dear Leader” and thrust upon the throne of the Democratic People’s Republic in 1975. Kim Jong Un will have no such luxury. But that does not mean that crisis is imminent. Kim Han-jong, who visited North Korea with South Korea’s President Kim Dae-jung at a momentous summit in 2000, states we should “not expect Kim Jong Il’s death to be followed by big political change”, owing to China’s apparent support for the regime as well as to the internal efforts to speed up the succession.
South Korea is however on a state of high alert. The KOSPI index dived 3% at noon, following the announcement. In the coming days, all eyes will be on Pyongyang, and the attempts of one young man to lay his claim to the world’s only communist monarchy.
