North Korean leader Kim Jong dies on train

Oh wow... I hope, for the people's sake, their new "dear leader" more of a diplomat, cooperative with other countries, and endeavors to provide the necessities of life to more than a few elite.

Ugh, what a horror show Kim Jong ll was.

(Another one bites the dust-- seems like 2012 will be a new world, after all.)


mo
 
Wow. I hope this will mean a truly new and positive future for the people of North Korea. They deserve a better leader and a much better way of life.
 
Wow. This will be a delicate time for all the surrounding nations, and all of us...I hope, for the sake of both the Koreas, that sanen head and calm hands will prevail.

Best-
Herding Cats
 
North Korea is one of my obsessions. If anyone wants to see some incredible videos about this bizarre and repressive nation, let me know. I will post them.

Il's father was a huge fan of Orwell's 1984. And he copied much from the totalitarian regime featured in the book, down to forcing people to turn on their radios or tv whenever they are home, so they can be continually inundated with propaganda. I think their country tops them all as far as being the scariest regime in the world, even above Nazi Germany.

I have heard pundits state that there is little chance of change with Il's death. But, I don't know. His shapeless blob of a son does not seem to have the same ability as Il or his father to hold sway over a starving, oppressed public with a serious cult of personality.

This country is always on the brink. So horrible are conditions that at the DMZ, while two South Korean or American soldiers stand facing the line, on the North Korean side, two soldiers also stand at the line, but they don't face it, they face each other, while a third faces the line. Why? Because they have to police each other to make sure none of the three guards tries to step over the line and defect.

It is a bizarre, nightmarish place, so crazy that none of us can truly comprehend the full horror of it. Whole generations are born and die in concentration camps. People ate each other during the height of famine in the 90's. Every word, every expression even every thought is carefully monitored. It is insane.

I think that a place like that can easily shift if the leadership is not compelling and/or brutal enough to keep the people in check. I am very intrigued to see what will happen next.
 
North Korea is one of my obsessions. If anyone wants to see some incredible videos about this bizarre and repressive nation, let me know. I will post them.

Yes post them please. I have a fascination with other countries and North Korea intrigues me.
 
THere is not much known about his successor son.

What we do know is that he was educated in the west. Maybe exposure to western values will be crucial to the future of NK.
 
Wow. I hope this will mean a truly new and positive future for the people of North Korea. They deserve a better leader and a much better way of life.

I doubt it. His son was responsible for the attacks on South Korea's island of Yeonpyeong, IIRC. I think his son is more wacko than his old man was. This isn't a good time right now. I hope to God that things don't get out of hand here, but this guy scares me. JMO
 
Yes post them please. I have a fascination with other countries and North Korea intrigues me.

Okay. Here ya go (the first are some must read articles to set the stage but if that bores you, scroll down for videos):

Excellent article about life inside North Korea: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8701959.stm
(There is a film you can watch at the top and photos you can click on in the middle).



A recent article about daily life: http://en.ria.ru/analysis/20111020/167899592.html


An article about an American's trip to North Korea along with several incredible photos of the trip at the top. Please look at the photos! And note the ever present gray skies!: http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2011/10/american-tourist-north-korea/


A 2010 article about the smuggling of undercover video from North Korea: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...ts-reveal-misery-of-life-in-dictatorship.html

A set of pictures with informative captions by a western businessman who visited. Only one has anything other than gray skies: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/asia_pac_unseen_north_korea/html/1.stm

Beautiful, EXCELLENT documentary about daily life in North Korea for one of the party elite. You MUST watch this. If you watch nothing else, you must watch this! Yes, the woman featured is VERY wealthy, upper class elite over there:
Part 1: North Korea - A day in the life Part 1/5 - YouTube
Part 2: North Korea - A day in the life Part 2/5 - YouTube
Part 3: North Korea - A day in the life Part 3/5 - YouTube
Part 4: North Korea - A day in the life Part 4/5 - YouTube
Part 5: North Korea - A day in the life Part 5/5 - YouTube

Short video from 1989. NOTHING has changed: north korea without a guide - YouTube

Another short video. The countryside in North Korea. And this is the GOOD part of the countryside. They don't let you see the bad: Life in the countryside North Korea - YouTube

Very intense video about the utter despair and starvation in North Korea. The terrible reality of life inside, it's awful and incredible:North Korean Children - YouTube

Super cute videos featuring little kids from the party elite, picked for their apparent talent and worked relentlessly until you get this: Little North Korean Girls Singing "ê³*향의봄" (Spring in My Hometown) - YouTube
North Korean Kindergarten Girl Singing 北朝鮮幼稚園少女独唱 - YouTube
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.
DPRK Child Prodigy Solo - YouTube
North Korean Children Playing Kayagum 北朝鮮幼稚園児カヤグãƒ*演奏 가야금 - YouTube
North Korean Children Playing Changgu 北朝鮮幼稚園児のチャング演奏 - YouTube
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.
北朝鮮音楽 DPRK musics ì¡°ì„* 노래 368 - YouTube

Finally, for those who have netflix, a GREAT movie to watch is the Red Chapel. It is a comedy/documentary but actually very intense. It is NOT fiction.

Two Danish-Korean comedians and their Danish manager get permission to go to North Korea to perform as a socialist theater troupe.
One has cerebral palsy and because no translator can understand his speech, he is the only one who doesn't have to edit what he says for fear that the ever present minders or recording devices will pick up what he says. He provides a great counterpoint to the lies told by the other two who do so to fool Big Brother and to stay alive.
Fascinating film that gives a real insight into how loony tunes the people are over there and the impact their insanity has on this trio.

Oh, and if you're wondering? Yes, I AM crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Wow. I hope this will mean a truly new and positive future for the people of North Korea. They deserve a better leader and a much better way of life.

Using your post as a jumping off point, it's too bad he had a chance to breed first. This man was pure evil and his sons are as monstrous as he was if not more. Someone should have cleaned out that gene pool long ago.
 
I doubt it. His son was responsible for the attacks on South Korea's island of Yeonpyeong, IIRC. I think his son is more wacko than his old man was. This isn't a good time right now. I hope to God that things don't get out of hand here, but this guy scares me. JMO

I actually don't think his son was responsible at all. It was his dad. Watchers believe his dad was trying to get the public to accept his son, who had just been promoted to general, despite no discernible talent or experience. They believed it was so that eventual succession would be possible.

His son was educated in Switzerland and did not make much of an impression there. he seems to lack personality although some say he shares his father's temper.

It is reported that he is the son of Il's favorite consort.
 
Thanks for posting all those links, Gitana! I don't think you're crazy at all, and appreciate the research you so easily share with those of us who could stand some catching up on a subject! You're the best! :heartbeat:

(I'm going to bookmark your post so I can access it quickly when I have the time to sink a little deeper into the subject!)
 
Relaxing after a hard days tyranny

kim-jong-il-relaxing1.jpg
 
This is the image that always stands out in my mind when I think about North Korea-- a lights at night satellite map of the world.

Can't see it? Exactly. There's an estimated 21 million people there...
 

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On the lighter side....

Kim Jong Il: Greatest. Filmmaker. Ever. (Christian Science Monitor)
---
(A note to aspiring revolutionary filmmakers in Hollywood: The Juche idea is defined as the “philosophical principle that man is the master of everything and decides everything.” Think of the heroic self-determination of Molly Ringwold in her “16 Candles” phase, meets the glorious masculinity of Tom Cruise in his “Top Gun” phase, meets Mao Zedong in his “Speech At The Ninth Plenum Of The Eighth CPC Central Committee” phase.)
---
more at link above
 
I have to go wash my eyes out with bleach now. :anguish:

A little rough on the eyes, for sure. I wonder how many poor souls had to witness him on that level? Barf! (actually, barf on every level!)
 
Relaxing after a hard days tyranny

kim-jong-il-relaxing1.jpg

And this is their deity?

This is the image that always stands out in my mind when I think about North Korea-- a lights at night satellite map of the world.

Can't see it? Exactly. There's an estimated 21 million people there...

Yes, that IS a compelling image. See, I maybe nuts, but to me this would be the perfect time, if ever an attack is a good thing, for South Korea and its allies to go in their and end the living nightmare for the millions who suffer in the most horrific ways imaginable in that country.

It boggles my mind that today, in the modern era, a nation like this is allowed to continue on, unchecked, and slaughter and brutalize and enslave its people.

BTW, North Korea has developed weaponry which has capabilities of hitting our shores. And they SELL that weaponry to lovely, peaceful countries like Pakistan and Iran.

I know we need another war like we need holes in our heads. But if it is inevitable, that would be one war that I can justify to a large degree.

Of course, they are only killing their own right now (and those they kidnap from other countries), so I guess there is not enough reason to go in now. But the DPRK is the definition of evil dictatorship.
 

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