Kim Jong Il Dead

[LivnForChrist]

Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s ‘Dear Leader’ Dictator, Dead at 70
By Bill Austin

Kim Jong Il, the second-generation North Korean dictator who defied global condemnation to build
nuclear weapons while his people starved, has died, Yonhap News reported. He was 70.

The news came in a radio broadcast at noon local time, Yonhap reported, citing North Korea’s official
media. Kim probably had a stroke in August 2008 and may have also contracted pancreatic cancer, according
to South Korean news reports.

more

[livin_in_the_Son]

This can't be good....

[mattfivefour]

Kim Jong-un is the official heir apparent, accorsing to his father's wishes; though there could be an internecine war with his eldest half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, who was originally pegged to succeed Kim Jong-il. But the senior Kim thought his eldest son was too Westernized after he was caught trying to sneak into Japan to visit Disneyland. Kim jong-un is a four-star general at age 27 and a computer expert, apparently. But according to some reports, his own health is not good, either.


Going to be very interesting to see what transpires there in the next few weeks and months.

[israelmybeloved]

I pray he knew Jesus.

[livin_in_the_Son]

Kim Jong-un is the official heir apparent, accorsing to his father's wishes; though there could be an internecine war with his eldest half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, who was originally pegged to succeed Kim Jong-il. But the senior Kim thought his eldest son was too Westernized after he was caught trying to sneak into Japan to visit Disneyland. Kim jong-un is a four-star general at age 27 and a computer expert, apparently. But according to some reports, his own health is not good, either.


Going to be very interesting to see what transpires there in the next few weeks and months.

Adrian, the article mentioned that because of Jong-un's age that he wouldn't even take complete control but a 'governing body' will for awhile. What do you think that might imply or how it could affect what happens in the north? I know that Sean could give us a military point of view, but I'm curious what you think as well.

[Suzanne]

Let's hope that "junior" doesn't try to prove himself by starting a war with SK or Japan.

[readyforhome]

I knew dad was nuts, but here's to hoping junior will be a little more level headed. I've heard and read different things about his son that makes me think he's a chip off the old block.

[readytogo]

This is another example of a leader "biting the dust" when we were thinking that they were moving into place for "the last days".

[mattfivefour]

Adrian, the article mentioned that because of Jong-un's age that he wouldn't even take complete control but a 'governing body' will for awhile. What do you think that might imply or how it could affect what happens in the north? I know that Sean could give us a military point of view, but I'm curious what you think as well.

I think that it would be better to hear from reputable NK watchers in the global community than from me on a matter such as this. Canada's Globe & Mail is a highly respected newspaper with some first-rate international correspondents. I think you will find the views expressed on their website today edifying. Analysis: What are the implications for Kim Jong-il's death? - The Globe and Mail. It's an eleven page web article with input from top experts.

Also, this is what StratFor, one of the world's leaders in global security, has to say:
_______________________

"North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il's Death

"December 18, 2011

"North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died the morning of Dec. 17, according to an official North Korean News broadcast at noon Dec. 19. Initial reports say Kim died of a heart attack brought on by fatigue while on board a train. Kim is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008, and his health has been in question since.

"Kim’s death comes as North Korea was preparing for a live leadership transition in 2012, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim’s father and North Korea’s founding leader, Kim Il Sung, a transition that had been intended to avoid the three years of internal chaos the younger Kim faced after his father’s death in 1994. Kim Jong Il had delayed choosing a successor from among his sons to avoid allowing any one to build up their own support base independent of their father. His expected successor, son Kim Jong Un, was only designated as the heir apparent in 2010 after widespread rumors in 2009 and thus has had little experience and training to run North Korea and little time to solidify his own support base within the various North Korean leadership elements. Now, it is likely that Kim Jong Un’s uncle, Jang Song Thaek, will rule behind the scenes as Kim Jong Un trains on the job. Like the transition from Kim Il Sung to Kim Jong Il, it is likely that North Korea will focus internally over the next few years as the country’s elite adjust to a new balance of power. In any transition, there are those who will gain and those who are likely to be disenfranchised, and this competition can lead to internal conflicts.

"The immediate question is the status of the North Korean military. Kim Jong Un is officially the Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers Party of Korea and was recently made a four-star general, but he has no military experience. If the military remains committed to keeping the Kim family at the pinnacle of leadership, then things will likely hold, at least in the near term. There were no reports from South Korea that North Korea’s military had entered a state of heightened alert following Kim Jong Il’s death, suggesting that the military is on board with the transition for now. If that holds, the country likely will remain stable, if internally tense.

"Kim’s death does not necessarily put an end to recently revived discussions with the United States and others over North Korea’s nuclear program. Pyongyang has increasingly felt pressured by its growing dependence on China, and these nuclear talks provide the potential to break away from that dependence in the long term."

[Sean Osborne]

I have strong doubts that the DPRKs Dear Leader Kim Jong-il died yesterday morning and then the North Korean politburo immediately decided to make that death a global news item. This is not how a militaristic, die-hard Stalinist government thinks or operates.

Kim Jong-il's death probably occurred some days or weeks ago, and the North Korean military and inner circle (third son Jong-un, brother-in-law Jang Song-taek and sister Kim Kyong-hui) around the former Dear Leader may have reached an accommodation regarding who has power going forward. This is in effect a North Korean "crisis management team." Jong-un may get the nod to succeed his father in the days to come if the accommodation holds, or there might be a coup led by either Jang Song-taek, or by the military itself, in order to remove the dynastic family from power. The latter possibilities could lead to a North Korean civil war.

Only time will allow us to see how this situation sorts itself out.

[mattfivefour]

"Very likely!" as to your premise, bro ... and "Exactly!" as to your conclusions.

[Sean Osborne]

Thanks Matt, and... BUMP back to the top.

[WKUHilltopper]

I'd be betting this guy has been dead for a couple of weeks. These commies need a few weeks to sort things out--who is gonna be the head commie, who gets what, etc.

Its pretty funny of some of their propaganda reports I've read--that the guy croaked from "working too much". Being a tyrant must be tough work.

I get the idea that most of the power elite in NK think old Kim's kids (the heir apparents) are wimps--thus I wouldn't be surprised to see a coup of sorts.

[Sean Osborne]

I'd be betting this guy has been dead for a couple of weeks.

After making the speculative comment that I did about this, I decided that determining when Kim Jong-il died was knowable. So off I went on a data mining expedition on Korean servers.

Lo and behold, I found that Kim Jong-il paid a visit to North Korea's first Chinese-designed supermarket on Kwangbok street in Pyongyang on last Thursday morning (15 DEC). This visit was illustrated by the North Korean government's official news agency, the Korean Central News Agency, on Saturday morning (17 DEC) as Jong-il's inner circle was determining when and how to announce his death.


Here's Kim Jong-il riding an escalator in the supermarket last Thursday morning.

Then the Korean Central News Agency reported yesterday morning that Jong-il suffered a heart attack while riding on his train enroute to a "field inspection." It would appear that he died within the 24 hour period of Thursday afternoon and Friday noon because Jong-il usually makes official appearances in broad daylight. There is much speculation that Kim Jong-il had set in motion a plan to attack South Korea within days or weeks, and his death may have now temporarily interrupted those plans, at the minimum through 29 DEC.

No wonder South Korea declared a military emergency alert upon release of the news of Kim Jong-il's death.

[WKUHilltopper]

There is much speculation that Kim Jong-il had set in motion a plan to attack South Korea within days or weeks...

Why? You think he knew his days were numbered and this would have been his swan song? Try to take some with him--so to speak?

[WKUHilltopper]

[Sean Osborne]

Why?

That is based upon what he has visited in the past and what occurred within a few weeks of that visit. Most recently Jong-il visited a specific naval HQ and shortly thereafter the South Korean frigate Cheon-an was sunk by a North Korean submarine, nearly starting a war. He visited a specific coastal artillery HQ and shortly thereafter the South Korean Marine base on Yeonpyeong island was attacked, nearly starting a war. That attack was the work of the dictator-in-waiting Kim Jong-un. Daddy approved of his son's planned attack.

Latest intel is that Kim Jong-il could not have kicked the bucket on that train as has been reported by North Korea and parroted by the Western media. That train is his personal armored train and it did not move at all during last weekend from its position at the station, and neither did the security detail train that normally rides ahead of Jong-il's train to ensure the track is safe for his movement.

Intel analysts are now saying that Kim Jong-il probably died at his residence, in his own bed, shortly after his visit to the supermarket on Kwangbok street in Pyongyang. There's also very good speculation on why the North has created the false narrative regarding Jong-il's death. It is to create a false glorified image of him as being in better health than he was, of going about his business as usual, of being at work for his people when he died. Kim Jong-il was not well respected as was his father, Kim Il-sung, and that drives the need for the false narrative. All those wailing and gnashing-of-teeth mourners are pure political theater created by the North Korean State.