N Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies

i never thought there would be a likely coup.

the Kim family is a great figurehead to keep power. Yeah you have one individual with a lot of centralized power, but with the understanding that he really could be removed almost effortlessly by the military if needed.

a radio newsreader here announced the death of "kim jong two"

lol he didnt even paraphrase right

Kim Jong II would be the one now?

  On 12/19/2011 at 5:26 PM, Squee said:

-1 for not making it "Kimmunication"

  On 12/19/2011 at 3:51 PM, joshuatxuk said:

 

  On 12/19/2011 at 11:44 AM, kokeboka said:

Wiki says Kim Jong-Un went to a swiss international school for several years before supposedly graduating in computer science in a North Korean university. Maybe he's a bit more open to social reform and to the idea of not nuking the rest of the world. Or maybe he's just a spoiled version of his dad and invade South Korea in his first day on the job.

 

He's not even first in line among his siblings by birth, clearly he's viewed more favorably. I read his older brother was supposedly skipped over because of an incident where he snuck into Japan to go to Disneyland. Also I'm extremely curious at the level of Computer Science being taught in North Korea, considering the state of their internet usage is so fascinatingly sparse.

 

ChenGOD do you think there's any possibility of a coup or something other drastic action internally? It seems like the ruling party and DPRK military heads might wield more power regardless, but will the loyalty to the family remain strong?

 

  On 12/19/2011 at 1:40 PM, chenGOD said:

  On 12/19/2011 at 12:29 PM, lumpenprol said:

those people bawling their eyes out really freak me out. The way mass hysteria feeds off itself is terrifying.

 

Korean people are always very vociferous in their grief.

 

And I mean it's not like the west doesn't do it's fair share of craziness when it comes to famous people dying.

Princess Diana's funeral?

Reagan's week long state funeral?

 

damn, good point

Yeah his oldest brother got caught using a fake passport trying to sneak into Japan so he could go to Disneyland there.

They have a reasonable level of CompSci - internet does not equal computing ability. They reportedly have a large intranet, with the ability to conduct some "cyber warfare".

I don't see a coup happening to be honest. At least not immediately. As Smetty said - he's a a good figurehead, and he also could play a role as a scapegoat yet. The time when I think we have to start worrying about coups is when the North starts to implement market reforms on a larger scale. I'd say it's pretty clear that's where they are headed. There were 9 North Korean students getting MBAs at UBC over the last year.

The US, China, South Korea (and even Japan, they just don't want to admit, because of all the fucked up shit that's gone one between North Korea and Japan) all want stability in the region.

It's gonna be a tricky time for the next few months in the immediate future. Wish I didn't have these two last exams to study for so I could focus on this more.

  On 12/19/2011 at 5:30 PM, triachus said:

  On 12/19/2011 at 5:26 PM, Squee said:

 

-1 for not making it "Kimmunication"

What about this?

  On 12/19/2011 at 3:51 PM, joshuatxuk said:

  On 12/19/2011 at 11:44 AM, kokeboka said:

Wiki says Kim Jong-Un went to a swiss international school for several years before supposedly graduating in computer science in a North Korean university. Maybe he's a bit more open to social reform and to the idea of not nuking the rest of the world. Or maybe he's just a spoiled version of his dad and invade South Korea in his first day on the job.

 

He's not even first in line among his siblings by birth, clearly he's viewed more favorably. I read his older brother was supposedly skipped over because of an incident where he snuck into Japan to go to Disneyland. Also I'm extremely curious at the level of Computer Science being taught in North Korea, considering the state of their internet usage is so fascinatingly sparse.

 

 

I'm guessing only the high ranking party members in North Korea have access to some form of controlled internet. You don't need knowledge and education to be a brutal dictator, anyway.

:cry: :cry: :cry:

  Quote

 

1. North Korean schools teach children that Jong-il's birth was "supernatural." He was born in a log cabin inside a secret base on the sacred Mt. Paekdu, the story goes, and his arrival was accompanied by the apparition of a new star. The seasons then spontaneously changed from winter to spring, and a double-rainbow appeared, followed by a talking iceberg. (Western accounts say he was born in a guerrilla camp in Russia.)

 

2. In 2006, Jong-il learned that a man in Germany breeds giant rabbits. He found them delightful and decided they were the key to solving North Korea's widespread hunger problem:

So Kim gets in touch with 68-year-old Karl Szmolinsky of Berlin, the world's foremost breeder of giant rabbits, and says he wants Szmolinsky to come to Pyongyang and set up a farm to breed these rabbits. For Kim believes that the meat yielded by these rabbits will end his people's starvation. [...]

 

Undeterred, Kim pays for 12 rabbits, at a cost of about $115 each. He tells Szmolinsky that the rabbits will be kept at a petting zoo in Pyongyang and, in a few months, Szmolinsky will be flown in to help really set up a farm for breeding.

 

In February of 2007, about five or six months later, Szmolinsky gets a call from a North Korean official canceling that trip. Why? Because, Szmolinsky believes, Kim couldn't resist... and ate the giant rabbits to celebrate his birthday.

 

3. State textbooks claim Jong-il does not produce urine or feces

 

4. Jong-il long claimed to be the world's greatest golfer. In 1994, Pyongyang media reported that he shot 38 under par on a regulation

18-hole golf course, including 5 holes in one

.

5. As the World Festival of Youth and Students approached in 1989, Jong-il had disabled residents removed from Pyongyang. The government also distributed pamphlets that touted a wonder drug that cures shortness. He then sent the short people who responded to a series of uninhabited islands, in the hopes of ridding his nation of "imperfect" genes.

 

6. He imprisoned relatives of convicts because he is convinced "the stain of criminality" persists for three generations.

 

7. The leader had a fear of flying, so he had lobsters airlifted onto his armored train — presumably the same train he died on — when he traveled.

 

8. Jong-il was Hennessy's biggest single client in 1993 and 1994, spending $850,000 annually on the cognac.

 

9. In 1978, Jong-il had South Korean filmmaker Shin Sang-ok kidnapped and held captive with his wife for 8 years, forcing the couple to produce propaganda movies for him. He'd take an executive producer credit on all of them. One was a blatant ripoff of Godzilla called Pulgasari, about the evils of capitalism. The couple eventually escaped during a location shoot in Austria. Jong-il later instructed his Ministry of Culture to "make more cartoons."

 

10. Kijong-Dong is a city built in the 1950s by Kim's father, set on the border as an example to South Korea of their superiority. No one lives there, but every effort was made to make it function like an actual city. The buildings have no glass in the windows and no rooms: They are just concrete shells. It's also home to the world's largest flagpole

Also he claimed to have invented the hamburger.

Miss u Kim <3

I don't understand the amount of grief other than show boating.

same here.

this bastard wasn't cute or endearing or colorful. he was just a bastard tbfh.

hereby i'll (il) swear to stop the ill puns, yo.

ps. who wants to photoshop this one?

  On 12/19/2011 at 6:40 PM, Dropp said:

Also he claimed to have invented the hamburger.

 

Miss u Kim <3

You mean reverse engineered it into a more utilitarian burger, like any other quality communist technology?

My tribute. Not as good as the one above but still....

what are the pluses of being a dictator? the sex? this kid would still be a virgin in the real world

  On 12/19/2011 at 7:24 PM, Rambo said:

My tribute. Not as good as the one above but still....

 

lol

What gets me are these pictures of people mourning his death... surely they know that he treats them like shit and that they are all poor because of his autocracy?

Some of the stuff I'm reading up on him seems cartoonish.

  On 12/19/2011 at 8:31 PM, luke viia said:

  On 12/19/2011 at 7:24 PM, Rambo said:

My tribute. Not as good as the one above but still....

 

 

lol

fucking lol. rambo got dem midas touch.

Well if you were scared for your life of the ruling despotic regime, you'd probably at least feign passionate mourning of their central figure, if not channeling years of desperation into a chance for a cathartic public display of emotion.

  On 12/19/2011 at 8:35 PM, halisray said:

What gets me are these pictures of people mourning his death... surely they know that he treats them like shit and that they are all poor because of his autocracy?

 

Some of the stuff I'm reading up on him seems cartoonish.

Do you not understand what personality cult means?

DOn't take anything written about him in the mainstream media as even coming close to the truth.

For example (from here):

  Quote

Sky News had a rather lengthy discussion on how the world lost it’s greatest golfer, referring to a legendary round of golf by Kim Jong Il, in which it is claimed he shot 11 holes-in-one. No North Koreans to whom we’ve mentioned this story have heard of this feat. It is most likely one of those apocryphal tales that foreign media enjoy using as shorthand for “this country is nutso!”

Maybe wait to see what people who actually know what they're talking about with regards to North Korea say about the situation.

  On 12/19/2011 at 5:20 PM, triachus said:

a radio newsreader here announced the death of "kim jong two"

lol

lol

  On 12/19/2011 at 8:57 PM, chenGOD said:

  On 12/19/2011 at 8:35 PM, halisray said:

What gets me are these pictures of people mourning his death... surely they know that he treats them like shit and that they are all poor because of his autocracy?

 

Some of the stuff I'm reading up on him seems cartoonish.

 

Do you not understand what personality cult means?

 

DOn't take anything written about him in the mainstream media as even coming close to the truth.

 

For example (from here):

  Quote

Sky News had a rather lengthy discussion on how the world lost it’s greatest golfer, referring to a legendary round of golf by Kim Jong Il, in which it is claimed he shot 11 holes-in-one. No North Koreans to whom we’ve mentioned this story have heard of this feat. It is most likely one of those apocryphal tales that foreign media enjoy using as shorthand for “this country is nutso!”

 

Maybe wait to see what people who actually know what they're talking about with regards to North Korea say about the situation.

Woah, was unaware the golf myth was a myth in itself. From the article as well:

  Quote

One of CNN’s pundits said NK’s short-range missile test is “unconnected” to Kim’s passing because that’s what the South Korean government says. As if South Korea’s primary concern isn’t keeping international markets calm and investors sanguine. (On the other hand, Sky News conclusively called it a “warning missle”.)

I'd heard it called a "warning missile" from other sources as well. News outlets need to stop making assumptions.