# Kim Jong-il Is Dead **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 19, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705 "2011-12-19T03:10:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705/62 "2011-12-19T04:13:06Z")
[Yep, we’ve heard.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=635437) ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705/63 "2011-12-19T04:13:39Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Which North Korean political faction supports reunification? Which faction in the East German communist party favoured reunification until the process actually began? ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705/64 "2011-12-19T04:15:05Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Oh good, finally an end to bizarre posturing and unpredictable behavior by the North Korean government. That would be nice, but it’s not going to be all peaches and cream. Ultimately the government is still there, there are succession plans, it’s not like the repression is going to stop. I’m convinced the people are going to get to a point where they revolt and perhaps this is the crystallizing event – perhaps not. Those poor people have so little to lose at this point, but at the same time the stakes are extremely high (this is a country that doesn’t just punish those who challenge the state, but their entire family for three generations). Certainly it’s good that there’s now some uncertainty but the regime outlasted Kim Il Sung, it could easily outlast Kim Jong Il. ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705/65 "2011-12-19T04:15:51Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > The designated heir [Kim Jong-un](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Jong-un) is only 27 or 28. Maybe he’ll make NK a hipper, swinginger nation! 🙂 Or at least that will be the plot of a Sasha Baron Cohen film one day . . . Just in case anyone was wondering why Number 1 Son won’t be getting behind the wheel. [Homeboy’s too busy trying to sneak into Disneyland](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3203523.stm) to concern himself with matters of state. (note: bbc link also contains juicy, albeit dated, goss on other Royal (koff) family members.) ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705/66 "2011-12-19T04:20:41Z")
More threads merged. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705/67 "2011-12-19T04:20:46Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > The one doesn’t follow from the other though. You can have a cult of personality without any substance. I suppose but when I say cult of personality I mean it quite literally. They treated him as if he were a god – in very literal terms. Someone like that has great power and I haven’t read anything that indicates that he was a figurehead in any way. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705/68 "2011-12-19T04:23:43Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Which faction in the East German communist party favoured reunification until the process actually began? All of them believed that Germany should be reunited. Which political faction in North Korea supports reunification? ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705/69 "2011-12-19T04:24:53Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > All of them believed that Germany should be reunited. > > Which political faction in North Korea supports reunification? Well in that sense pretty much everybody in the sense of all of the Peninsula being under Corsoc rule. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705/70 "2011-12-19T04:26:49Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Well in that sense pretty much everybody in the sense of all of the Peninsula being under Corsoc rule. Which political faction in North Korea supports reunification? ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705/71 "2011-12-19T04:27:41Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Which political faction in North Korea supports reunification? I answered your question. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705/72 "2011-12-19T04:30:36Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I answered your question. Nonsense. “Pretty much everybody” would have led to reunification some decades ago. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705/73 "2011-12-19T04:36:41Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Nonsense. “Pretty much everybody” would have led to reunification some decades ago. In a theoretic sense for a military forceful reunification (although they know that’ll get them crushed) and Kim Jong Il’s death may cause liberals and moderates to come to the fore. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705/74 "2011-12-19T04:38:55Z")
I guess what makes me nervous is the possibility that the transition of power won’t go smoothly. And the situation for the common people of North Korea has steadily been growing worse. Kim Jong Il’s death could set off a bunch of crazy stuff. Or not. There is, of course the possibility that his son will take the wheel and it will be business as usual. Selfishly, I hope that is the case. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705/75 "2011-12-19T04:43:56Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Funeral arrangements have been announced. Pyongyang, December 28. Already got _my_ e-vite! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705/76 "2011-12-19T04:45:40Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Already got _my_ e-vite! So did I. It came from the North Korean Embassy in Nigeria. Did they want your banking details too? Mine did. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705/77 "2011-12-19T04:49:02Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > [Link to weeping newsreader](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16240002). Yeah, she’s pretty bummed out. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705/78 "2011-12-19T04:49:32Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > This is going to be very very interesting. His son is too young and inexperienced and doesn’t have the web of family and allies his father does. That was my plan. I picked Kim Jong-il and his three sons. If there’s a quick military coup, I have a shot at winning this year’s deathpool. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705/79 "2011-12-19T04:51:57Z")
wow, I knew he was il but… ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705/80 "2011-12-19T04:56:03Z")
Official news/hagiography here: [http://www.kcna.kp/](http://www.kcna.kp/) If anybody reads Korean and wants to translate some of it better than the incomprehensible Google version, that would be cool. I am aware that the site is blocked in South Korea by the government. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705/81 "2011-12-19T04:58:00Z")
Thank you Santa. That’s all I wanted for Christmas. Well, watching Tebow lose was a nice stocking stuffer too, so my thanks for that also. Amen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-il-is-dead/606705.md?page=5)