Moderators: Alyrium Denryle, Edi, K. A. Pital
Young General! The Brilliant Comrade! The Great Successor!Nephtys wrote:I believe they're calling the kid 'The Young General', taking a (at least temporary) from the Adjective Leader series.
But hey. He should be happy he's in charge, instead of having suffered through Attempted Disneyland like his brother
it is always tragic when human life comes to an end.Are you fucking kidding? Tell me you're kidding. LIE TO ME and say you're kidding. Kim Jong Il should have been shot by his countrymen 50 years ago. I pray that the apple falls far, far from the poisoned tree upon which it grew. Maybe the SRBM launch was an ejaculation of hope and change.DXIII wrote:It might have been nice for him to find a new job, but it is always tragic when human life comes to an end.
I just hope this one small tragedy doesn't lead to another big tragedy. Let's hope the people of North Korea indeed do become better off, so at least something good will come from this.
"DO YOU WORSHIP HOMOSEXUALS?" - Curtis Saxton (source)
- PeZook
Well for China it could mean direct access to the Sea of Japan in their own right rather than via leasing a North Korean port. But then on second thought, they seem to do pretty well without direct access to the Sea of Japan so why bother with it.MKSheppard wrote:You've hit upon the nail and why South Korea and China are...hesitant to take more proactive methods with North Korea; despite the huge headaches Norkland causes both.CaptHawkeye wrote:Who *would* invade North Korea though? What's in it for them other than inheriting a shit-pot of a state with a totally castrated culture and zero infrastructure beyond the capital?
I knew something was wrong with the earth today! Also no surprise on the official story being questioned; though satellites are not a very reliable means of tracking trains when numerous railway bunkers exist in North Korea.Kim Jong-il death: 'Nature mourns' N Korea leader
Strange natural phenomena have been witnessed in North Korea since the death of the country's leader Kim Jong-il, the state news agency KCNA reports.
Ice cracked on a famous lake "so loud, it seemed to shake the Heavens and the Earth", and a mysterious glow was seen on a revered mountain top, KCNA said.
The personality cult surrounding North Korea's founding father and son bestows near-divine status on them.
Meanwhile, South Korean intelligence has questioned how Mr Kim died.
Citing US satellite photos, the country's national intelligence service director Won Sei-hoon said there was no sign that the special train, on which Mr Kim is reported to have died while on a visit on Saturday, had ever left Pyongyang over the weekend.
South Korea's president says Seoul is trying to show no hostility towards Pyongyang. Lee Myung-bak said a return to stability in the communist state was in the interests of the region.
Seoul is also sending its top nuclear negotiator to Beijing for talks on the situation in its northern neighbour.
In North Korea, state media continue to report mass grieving following Mr Kim's death, reportedly from a heart attack.
'Message in rock'
The 69-year-old had led North Korea since the death of his father in 1994 and an elaborate personality cult, involving multiple stories of alleged miracles or astonishing deeds, has been built up around him.
Even nature is mourning, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported on Thursday.
A snowstorm hit as Mr Kim died and ice on the volcanic Chon lake near his reported birthplace at Mount Paektu cracked, it said.
Following the storm's sudden end at dawn on Tuesday, a message carved in rock - "Mount Paektu, holy mountain of revolution. Kim Jong-il" - glowed brightly, it said,
On the same say, a Manchurian crane also apparently adopted a posture of grief at a statue of the late leader's father in the northern city of Hamhung.
"Even the crane seemed to mourn the demise of Kim Jong-il, born of Heaven, after flying down there at dead of cold night, unable to forget him," KCNA reported officials as saying.
On Wednesday state media said more than five million people had already turned out to pay their respects.
State media have called on North Koreans to unite behind his designated heir, youngest son Kim Jong-un, who is being called the "Great Successor".
Observers fear that because the transfer of power from father to son had not been formalised before Mr Kim's death, it could trigger instability. Regional neighbours are keenly watching events in the internationally-isolated nuclear-armed state.
'Flexibility'
South Korea, which remains technically at war with its northern neighbour following the 1950-1953 Korean War, put its military on a state of alert after Mr Kim's death was announced.
But it has also scrapped a plan to turn on controversial Christmas lights on the border that anger North Korea, and offered "sympathies" over the death.
"The measures we have taken so far are basically aimed at showing North Korea we are not hostile toward the North," Yonhap news agency quoted the president as saying on Thursday.
"An early stabilisation of North Korea's system is in the interests of neighbouring countries," he said. "On future relations with North Korea, there is room for exercising as much flexibility as possible. We will discuss the matter with all political parties."
Ties between the two Koreas have been very tense in recent months, following the sinking of a South Korean warship in March 2010 and the shelling of a border island in November 2010.
North Korea denies a role in the first incident and says Seoul provoked the second.
Relations have also been hit by Mr Lee's refusal to offer aid to Pyongyang without progress on the nuclear issue.
South Korea's nuclear envoy, Lim Sung-nam, is heading to Beijing to discuss how stalled six-nation talks aimed at denuclearising North Korea should be tackled in the wake of Mr Kim's death.
South Korean media have also accused Beijing of failing to communicate with Seoul since the announcement came.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16297811
I wouldn't be surprised if it was a decoy train the satellites picked up. Kim would have some of those things lying around, right?Sea Skimmer wrote:Nature Mourns Kim Jong Il!
I knew something was wrong with the earth today! Also no surprise on the official story being questioned; though satellites are not a very reliable means of tracking trains when numerous railway bunkers exist in North Korea.
weemadando wrote:<snippy picky>
Kim Jong-Un Privately Doubting He's Crazy Enough To Run North Korea
December 18, 2011
PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA—In surprisingly candid remarks today following his father's death, Kim Jong-un, heir apparent to North Korea's highest government post, expressed doubt that he was sufficiently out of his mind to succeed longtime dictator Kim Jong-il.
While emphasizing that he was definitely completely insane and would likely become even more so as leader of North Korea, the younger Kim nevertheless wondered if he could ever be enough of a lunatic to truly replace the most unhinged dictator on the planet.
"Obviously, I know I was handpicked because I'm super crazy," said Kim, the youngest of the late 69-year-old dictator's four known children. "But my father was just so great at what he did. Did you know the people of North Korea heard his voice exactly once, for like five seconds? How nuts is that? Honestly, I look at stuff like that and I think, 'Wow, there's just no way I can ever top Dad.'"
"We're talking about a world-class nutjob here," he added.
Kim told reporters that since emerging as the presumptive next-in-line to lead North Korea, he had spent countless hours trying to come up with his own brand of craziness that would honor the tradition set forth by his father and grandfather, Kim Il-sung, but would also set him apart. After discovering that many of his best ideas had already been taken by his father—including making citizens bow toward wall-sized portraits of himself or claiming to be a demigod whose moods directly influence the weather—Kim admitted he had grown frustrated.
"At this point, I'm not sure what's left for me to do, really," he said. "I mean, according to the Ministry of Information, Dad hit 11 holes-in-one the first time he ever played golf. I'm dead serious. Dad had never even picked up a golf club before, and he hit 38 under par. Where am I supposed to go from there? I guess I can say I ran a marathon in 20 minutes, but isn't that pretty much the same thing?"
"It is the same thing, isn't it?" Kim added. "Ugh."
Kim, who in his rare public appearances wears a plain dark suit, said he ultimately hoped to cultivate an eccentric, yet vaguely sinister look as iconic as his father's pompadour, drab parka, and sunglasses, perhaps something "even nuttier" involving canes, a large yellow raincoat, or possibly a motorized scooter.
Other ideas Kim has had for proving his insanity include placing anyone shorter than himself under permanent house arrest, issuing a new national currency every 90 days, normalizing relations with South Korea, and replacing all medicines with synthetic replications of his own saliva.
"Of course, I have to be careful not to come off as too crazy, because then it would just feel forced and no one would buy it," said Kim, noting that he was working on some slogans that North Korean schoolchildren would be forced to chant three times daily. "Then again, maybe having it come off as forced would make me seem even crazier, because what kind of a maniac would go to such lengths to outdo his father? Right? Or is that just a cop-out?"
Although Kim's birthday is already recognized as a national holiday and any criticism of him is punishable by indefinite sentences in re-education camps, Kim suggested that the stress of living up to his father's insanity has already taken a toll.
"For years, I haven't even enjoyed the things I used to love, like forcing starving people to perform a five-hour dance routine in my honor, because I spend the whole time obsessing over whether I'm being wacko enough," Kim admitted. "That's what was so special about Dad, you know: He never worried about all that stuff, he just acted like himself. What can I say? The old man set the loony bar pretty high."
Added Kim, "God, I'm really going to miss him, you know?"
Good Christ, really?!Wow. His son is entertaining. And likely pretty derpy. If that's true. The Onion is not a reliable news source.
Bad sarcasm, admittedly. Stupid headaches.
Better to quote Mark Twain: "I didn't attend the funeral, but I did send a nice letter saying I approved of it."ChaserGrey wrote:Apparently the U.N. held a moment of silence in memory of Kim Jong Il today. Wish I'd known about it so I could be there. Turning on my PC speakers and cutting loose with "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead" would totally be worth being escorted out by security afterwards.
Yeah I have a feeling he'll turn into Ahmedinijad-lite.DudeGuyMan wrote:I know I'm a bad person, but I sort of worry that this new kid isn't going to live up to his old man. Like he's going to keep on ruining everyone's lives, but won't even be a good enough sport to claim while he does it that he's a demigod who never poops, or whatever.
