http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16239693 Huh, I'm actually a bit surprised to hear this, despite hearing that he had some health problems... Wonder whether this is gonna make North Korea turn a new leaf, or if they'll continue down the same path to the bitter end.
Considering the fact that his son, Kim Jong-un, is the one who will take over, I think very little will change. Actually, I'm going to guess nothing will change.
The king is dead, long live the king. First thing that came to mind. A quick google search showed me how impressively unoriginal it is.
I agree 100%. Since a few years ago, there were false rpeorts on Kim Jong-Il's death, this also kinda shocked me. So yeah, I doubt anything's going to change. =|
What I fear is the changing of the guard problem. The son might be worse than the father, a general might try to take over, war could be declared with South Korea, they might get closer to China, they could become allies, join in the war with South Korea, America gets involved, and we have World War 3. The death of one man can result in the death of millions if people are stupid enough to take those actions. To be truthful, I fear war the most. Kim Jong-il was too sickly to lead war, the young healthy son however... Hopefully this transition will be easier then I fear.
Sadly that's what my first thought was, his son and the military in North Korea are who assume power now, from the speculation I've heard the past couple of years this could lead to at the least another Korean war. It wouldn't take much to get those two fighting, if I remember correctly they're both technically still at war due to the lack of a peace agreement. As you said, if they get to fighting again it's likely the U.S gets involved and that could lead to a Chinese-American war. We're not exactly in a great position with China to wage war with them.. Safe to say we might wanna keep a close eye on North Korea and their new regime.
I fear the same. Of course, it all comes down to how Jong-un decides to handle it, and to what extent he is granted powers. I know that the propaganda surrounding Jong-il was very idealistic (in the way they talked about him), and they made him somewhat of a deity. I don't believe Jong-un will have the same "hold" on the people, unless, of course, propaganda has already been surrounding him.
I saw this on the news yesterday/day before,and my first thought was that very little seems to be known about the son. I mean,it could just be the Irish news(bleh),but all the reporters were saying stuff like "he is around 20 years old,maybe older,and possibly stuided at blahblahblah". So it makes me wonder if hes like a copy of his father,if someone new.
Considering his son, Kim Jong-un is going to take over power, I doubt much will change for the country. But it's been said that Jong-un is going to have to share power, shifting the nation from a strong dictatorship to a collective rule. Still, it looks like the military has pledged allegiance to Jong-un, so I'm curious, perhaps a little fearful, of where their development with their nuclear arsenal is going . . .