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Kim Jong-il Dies

Posted by Ragnarok from Swansea - Published on 19/12/2011 at 11:22
3 comments » - Tagged as History, People

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The leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il (birth name Yuri Irsenovich Kim according to Soviet records), has died at the age of 69 on Saturday 17 December 2011.

State-run television have announced that the man died while on a train to an area outside the capital.

His son, Kim Jong-un, is now being hailed as the "great successor" and the people of North Korea are now being urged to unite behind him. Kim Jong-un, thought to be in his late twenties, was named his father's successor just over a year ago.

KCNA, North Korea's state-run news agency, have said "All party members, military men and the public should faithfully follow the leadership of comrade Kim Jong-un and protect and further strengthen the unified front of the party, military and the public."

A period of national mourning has been declared from 17 to 29 December, with the funeral being held in the capital of Pyongyang on the 28th December.

Jong-il became the second leader of the East Asian country after the death of his father, Kim Il-sung, in 1994 since the nation's founding in 1948. Both Jong-il and Il-sung died of a heart attack.

The reaction of Kim Jong-il's death has ranged largely from North Korea and South Korea. In the former, photos of crying people were shown, while in South Korea the reaction ranged from indifference to over-joyed for the man who threatened to turn South Korea into a "sea of fire".

While Soviet records claim that Jong-il was born on 16 February 1941 in Vyatskoye, Soviet Union, North Korean records claim that Jong-il was born a year later in Baekdu Mountain, Japanese Korea. News agencies use the North Korean records to calculate his age at death.

Pastor Kim Ok-tae, 58, believes "the whole earth should celebrate it as much as Christmas." He continued to say, "I am not at all afraid. I don't see any likelihood of North Korea lashing out unexpectedly".

The communist state's propaganda elevated Jong-il into a demi-god. Now, the focus will be on his son, Kim Jong-un, and will be the toughest test of the stability of North Korea yet.

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