OT-Kim Jong Un status
Well it’s been almost 5 days since the rumors that he was in dire straits started to surface and he still hasn’t been seen or heard from in public. Now more sources are suggesting that he’s either dead or in a permanent vegetative state.
I personally believe he’s already joined the great socialist revolution in the sky and the current powers that be in the DPRK are trying to get all their ducks in a row before announcing the news because they know that all hell is about to break loose.
And here. We. Go.
At least Maizen probably won’t be in this thread?
Something something something about recruiting better talent to lead a nation, how are they ever going to beat South Korea with the talent they have now, etc.
Am I doing this right?
I don't miss Maizen's histrionics either, but can you deny that North Korea heavily relied on nepotism over Rivals' statesmanship star ratings when recruiting their political leaders?
He’s got a sister, I think. Would N. Korea allow a woman to rule?
I read that's unlikely, and his older brother is supposedly too effeminate to even be considered.
Sooo...the Him No Dong fairy tale isn't going to happen?
North Korea doesn’t strike me as a country that is open to letting a woman rule.
Kim Yo Jong
She's a fucking nut job too.
Kim looks like a human gummy bear.
Which kinda checks out... Haribo was run by Nazis back in the day.
She looks like one of those kind of people where the neighbors say “We would have never suspected she was capable of this. She was so quiet.” After the police dig up a mass grave in her back yard.
I am starting to wonder
There are reports that he is alive but no brain function
I don't even know if this is a good or bad thing, big power vacuum since he killed all his rivals
There are reports that he is alive but no brain function
That condition hasn't slowed down Biden.
yes, BIDEN is the punch line to that joke!
It's even more poor taste since Biden has a stutter
Stuttering is a sign of intelligence. It means your brain is moving faster than your mouth can move to talk.
Explains why Trump is such a slick talking pathological liar. Brains not included.
C'mon, that's every politician. They'd all be passed over by a zombie horde.
I hear a bit of sunlight inside the body and disinfectant is the cure for brain dead...
The anger sometimes is startling with all the neg votes. That should be a pretty funny joke regardless of your political beliefs.
Except how can Trump supporters possibly make any jokes about Biden’s mental soundness considering who their leader is?
That’s like Lions fans talking shit to another team’s supporters about how much they suck.
Because he has way better hair.
Jokes about Biden don't make you a Trump supporter. They're all a joke.
Biden likes to sniff hair and have the kids rub his long leg hair. That’s how he learned about roaches.
I just checked Facebook and it says his status is "it's complicated."
All I know is if I were the people who made the giant bronze statues in Pyongyang of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il after they kicked the bucket, I’d start getting my tools organized and warming up the firing ovens.
i can try to find the article, but the story seemed pretty credible in that it came from someone with legit ties to/from PRK. kim had heart surgery, complications arose, close to death, docs from china were hurriedly flown in to try and save him, not successful or at best, still in a coma.
that guy is undoubtedly destined for hades and i can't say i'd be sorry to hear that he has already started his trip there.
EDIT: here is some background...
But what now has North Korea under the microscope is a Facebook post by Chang Sung-min. He is a former staff member under the late Kim Dae-jung, South Korea’s president from 1998-2003. While Kim Dae-jung embarked upon his infamous “Sunshine Policy” that sought to appease Pyongyang, earning him a visit to North Korea and the Nobel Peace Prize, it did nothing to change the course of North/South relations. But it gave Chang Sung-min, now a congressman, the chance to develop and maintain good relations with Chinese intelligence sources. As such he, in turn, has proven credible in the past concerning North Korea.
What Chang Sung-min shared in his post is alarming. He reported Kim Jong-un had undergone surgery and slipped into a coma. Remaining incapacitated, an urgent call allegedly went out to Beijing for medical assistance. That team rushed to Pyongyang but was allegedly unable to revive him. The next day, Chang back-tracked on this, saying the dictator was still alive but comatose.
and some comments on successors:
During the last decade of founder Kim Il-sung’s 46-year rule, he paved the way for his son, Kim Jong-il – the current leader’s father – to take over. When Kim Jong-il did so in 1994 at age 53, it was the first-ever successful father-to-son transition of power in a communist country. Similarly, Kim Jong-il then started paving the succession road towards the end of his 17-year tenure for his son, Kim Jong-un, to take power at the youthful age of 26 in 2011. Thus, for almost seven decades, North Korea’s power transition has been linked to the Kim family’s bloodline, fed by a personality cult built up around it. Accordingly, any non-blue blood would have difficulty justifying a grab for power without a Kim family member involved.
Another candidate is Kim Pyoug-il, 65, the paternal half-brother of Kim Jong-il, and thus Kim Jong-un’s uncle, who, until July of 2019, was one of North Korea’s top envoys in Europe, serving in Yugoslavia, Hungary, and most recently Czech Republic. While Kim Pyoug-il has spent the previous thirty years representing his country in Europe, interestingly he was beckoned back to Pyongyang last year without explanation.
The last possible bloodline claimant, although a long shot, is Kim Han-sol, 25. He is the son of the half-brother of Kim Jong-un, assassinated in 2017.
The middle of a global pandemic would be the worst possible time for Kim to face his maker.
Why? Because he would have to wait in line? Doesn't Kim's maker understand who he is?
No, because there are enough problems going on in the world right now; the last thing we need is a dangerous power struggle in an unstable, nuclear-armed state.
A potential Kim successor could easily decide to use the distraction of pandemic to attack the South. A leaderless DPRK is a problem that requires the full attention of Japan, ROK, the US, and the PRC.
I won't lose any sleep if China's North Korean chickens come home to roost right now in the form of some scary crisis on their doorstep. They owe the rest of the world.
There are nearly 24,000 US troops stationed in South Korea, approximately 50,000 US troops (and 40,000 dependents!) stationed in Japan, and about 12,000 US troops stationed in Guam, which is US territory. Not to mention 10 million South Koreans living in Seoul, about 30 miles from the DMZ. And that's assuming that North Korea doesn't have functional ICBMs.
If North Korea falls apart, it's not just China's problem. It's a regional problem, and it's a US problem.
I'm right there with you as far as 'fuck China and NKs' respective governments', but unfortunately there's a over a billion people who are that much closer to a geopolitical crisis, so no thank you.
Because as bad as a stable-but-awful nation-state may be, an unstable one is so much, much worse, and even if one doesn't care about the fallout towards the Chinese and Korean people (which you should) and geopolitical instability will inevitably involve the USA, and not in a good way.
Rumors are the doctor botched putting a stent in.
Poor guy, I genuinely feel bad for what’s probably going to happen to him and his family.
That’ll be a mess over there if he dies/can’t function. China might try to take over.
China already took over 70 years ago when they sent 1 million soldiers over the border to “save” North Korea.
I don't think China wants to take over the DPRK. What would be their motive? It's been a useful puppet state for them; they get to antagonize the US in relative safety. Taking over means having to find a way to feed 25 million starving people, almost none of whom are ethnically Chinese nor speak the language.
What China wants is a pliable figurehead who can be counted upon to rattle the nuclear saber only when instructed to do so, and who can find a way to feed the people and reduce the refugee flow.
Balance the political theater with the enormous aid burden China has to deal with, and a constant state of imminent refugee disaster potential along their border. Not really that useful of a relationship at the end of the day.
Sure, but if China were to invade, they'd just be internalizing the aid burden and refugee disaster. It doesn't improve things any for them.
The world's best hope might be that China persuade the DPRK to pick somebody a little less bent on throwing 100% of the country's economic energy into weapons and who will try to build a functioning market economy.
This just in 3-star dictator from North Korea just committed to play football for the University of Michigan. My sources tell me he is a back-up plan to Andre seldon... If Seldon can't shut down Julian Fleming the Michigan coaching staff is hoping The Korean dictator will be able to at least contain him. Back to you Tom!
Kim looks like a nose guard who needs a few years in the weight room. Short arms. Lacks first step burst. Easily pushed off the line. Poor pad level. Weak upper body strength.Truly a developmental challenge.
I heard he indulges in expensive bottles of champagne and other boozes. He’d be a good contributor to our nightly “what are you drinking” threads
I assume he's either dead or close to it; it seems like they'd have rushed him out for a public appearance if he was capable of it. I do wonder who takes over with him gone; his son is 10 years old and while there's a dynastic rule in place, a kid is way less scary than a homicidal adult who can hold grudges if there's an attempt at overthrowing him.
Assuming he actually is dead or permanently incapacitated, I won’t be surprised to see his generals tear each other apart over who should rule.
My understanding is he has no sons who are of age, I doubt North Korea is the kind of state that is open to letting his sister rule (or any woman for that matter), and didn’t Un have his brother killed a few years back? The list of in-family successors is pretty slim.
Even if one of Un’s sons rules, he’d be a puppet ruler, with one or more of the generals pulling the strings.
The modes of execution will be sublime. Each attempting to outdo the prior one in twisted cruelty. Something I would pay to stream while locked down.
Is the son an asshole like Joffrey or naive like Tommen?
Status: Short and fat
Short, fat, and dead is no way to go through life, son.
I went down a rabbit hole the other day reading about him and stumbled upon Turkmenistan’s leader. Holy shit is he incredibly weird but absolutely hilarious. Couldn’t stop laughing over this piece: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-9QYu8LtH2E