OT- Kim Jong-Il has died
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2011-12-18/north-korea-leader-dies/52058036/1
I don't know who is next in line in their country, but for the people's sake I hope they can make some progress over there.
[ED:BISB - I want to leave this up, but in order to make that possible, I'm probably gonna have to delete anything that strays into the politics surrounding it. Go nuts, and if I delete something insightful, I apologize. Kinda]
December 19th, 2011 at 10:23 AM ^
Once the soldiers stopped caring, East Berliners figured out how to get past that pesky wall pretty quick. I don't think it's at all implausible that the North Korean soldiers at the DMZ stop being interested in keeping people in, or that the South Koreans on the other side decide not to force them back.
December 19th, 2011 at 10:55 AM ^
It's hard to say what the ROK's contingency plans are, but I doubt letting a flood of refugees cross the DMZ is a part of any of them. That would be massively destablizing for both states.
I think the plans of the interested parties - US, ROK, PRC - is to take a "wait and see" approach.
December 19th, 2011 at 12:41 PM ^
They're literally thousands of manned watchposts all along the line, you'd have to cross about 4 miles of open land that's been heavily mined. There's a reason why defectors take the long route into china, then thailand or something before coming to seoul.
When a defector tried cross at the "peace bridge" it led to a shootout that left several people dead and more injured.
December 19th, 2011 at 12:09 AM ^
How good is is the successor at karaoke?
December 19th, 2011 at 3:06 AM ^
Can we have their nukes now?
December 19th, 2011 at 3:56 AM ^
for now. His death leaves an impoverished nation in the hands of an equally delusional 20 something, with an ill intentioned cadre of military leaders vying for control.
Is it any wonder his oldest son Kim Jong-Nam tried to escape from NK to Tokyo Disney with a dominican passport?
Pressures of possibly taking over your father's dictatorial regime overwhelming you? Throw on some mickey ears and go wild...
December 19th, 2011 at 5:23 AM ^
These sorts of stories only seem to hit the news when I go to bed early for once.
My only question is this - why does his son look perpetually unamused? My guess is that someone told him that the DVD of the director's cut of "Logan's Run" was scratched or something along those lines.
December 19th, 2011 at 6:54 AM ^
Uhh, good?
December 19th, 2011 at 7:35 AM ^
Fuck Yeah!
December 19th, 2011 at 7:40 AM ^
same as the old boss
December 19th, 2011 at 7:43 AM ^
I'm so ronery
December 19th, 2011 at 7:50 AM ^
Is he the punter for UMass?
December 19th, 2011 at 7:59 AM ^
My thoughts are with the men and women on the DMZ, stay alert!
December 19th, 2011 at 8:57 AM ^
The Idiot is dead. Long live the Idiot.
December 19th, 2011 at 9:51 AM ^
ronry.....oh so ronry!!!
December 19th, 2011 at 10:28 AM ^
This is the English version of the North Korean Central News Agency... most certainly the most bizarre thing to read right now.
http://www.kcna.kp/goHome.do?lang=eng
Kim Jong Il was, indeed, a peerlessly great man who breathed his last like a hero, totally dedicated to the people, making endless forced marches for field guidance for their happier life with iron will and superhuman energy.
December 19th, 2011 at 12:43 PM ^
(well duh) and the mood isn't very different. It's all over the news, but it wasn't the kind of thing to stop traffic or people from going about their day. It's not like when they shelled that island last spring, that had people staring at TV's everywhere, even people walking down the street would stop and watch TV's in store or restaurants that day. Today it's more laidback, no sirens or anything.
December 19th, 2011 at 1:42 PM ^