

Kim Jong-il has died - hesparrow
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10745725

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DilipJ
i wish this means the end to that regime, or at the very least some sort of
Khrushchev type loosing of control will occur. I dont think there is any other
group of people on the planet that have been suffering for such a continuous
period of time as the North Koreans. It's the greatest tragedy of our age

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WalterSear
Agreed. But there is very little to be hopeful about: North Korea has survived
for many years by threatening violence and chaos to put a meager amount of
food on its table. Its neighbours (and the international community) are about
as afraid of the fallout from its collapse as they are the threats it puts
forward. However, we are soon approaching a time when the global economc
crisis will result in no one meeting its demands.

Couple that with a twenty year old playboy leader who's been fed his
grandfather's crackpottery from the womb onwards, and there's no way this will
end well.

For those who do not know much about the brutality of north korean life, there
are several google videos of real life inside north korea. Be warned, though:
they aren't graphic, but there isn't much on the internet that is as
disturbing.

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DilipJ
I'm really hopeful the kid will be a force for change. He was educated outside
the country, and so was exposed to different cultures and ideas..he must have
taken something positive away from that

