North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il Dead: Implications for the World
December 19, 2011 by natalina
Filed under Extraordinary Intelligence.com, Extraordinary News, The Unexplained
Kim Jong-il has died at age 69. North Koreans were alerted to his death by state run television with this tearful announcement. The anchor says, in part:
“I’m announcing in the most woeful mind, that our great leader Kim Jong-il passed away due to a sudden illness on his way to a field guidance on December 17, 2011.” She says that the 69-year-old “passed away from a great mental and physical strain” while on a train trip. She states that the leader died of a heart attack and “overwork” after “dedicating his life to the people.”
It is being reported that his funeral will be held December 28 and the national mourning period extends until December 29.
Kim Jong-il has been in power in North Korea since 1994 when his father, Kim Il Sung, passed away. Now, the reigns of power are to be turned over to Jong-il’s son, Kim Jong Un. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency released a statement saying that the people and military “must faithfully revere respectable comrade Kim Jong Un. At the leadership of comrade Kim Jong Un, we have to change sadness to strength and courage and overcome today’s difficulties.”
Worldwide, nations are on high alert as this event unfolds. The White House has issued a statement saying that they are monitoring the situation closely and are in contact with allies in the region. South Korea’s military has been placed on “emergency alert”.
“South Korea’s concern is warranted, frankly, because an insecure North Korea could well be an even more dangerous North Korea,” a U.S. official said.
Not many people understand the dynamics of the North Korean regime. Jong-il’s father is considered to be the eternal leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea. Not just figuratively, Kim Il Sung is a god to the North Koreans. Now that Jong-il has passed, he’ll likely be elevated to a similar status. While utterly oppressive, these men are revered by the people, through intense psychological indoctrination. The North Korean people are lead to believe that the West is keeping North and South Korea from uniting, and they are so isolated that they have no idea just how prosperous South Korea is currently.
Kim Jong Il stands with his son Kim Jong Un, right, who was chosen last year by his father as the nation's next leader.
The implications for leadership change in North Korea are quite ominous. In the already unstable region, upheaval could have dire consequences not only for the citizens within, but for the whole world. No one knows precisely what designs Jong-il’s son has for the future of his country. It is known that he was being groomed for the position. He is the youngest of three (known) sons, but was the only one in good graces with his father. Jong Un was announced as the successor to his father in 2010.
Furthering the concerns of a world that knows how dangerous an unstable North Korea has the potential to be, is the uncertainty regarding their nuclear program. Estimates of the size of North Korea’s stockpile range from low single digits to just more than a dozen but there is no certainty the country has built a working bomb.
It is possible that the new leader will feel pressured to flex his muscles and assert his authority by engaging in provacative acts. “The danger now is that Kim Jong-Un feels under pressure to demonstrate his legitimacy with nuclear tests or military provocations,” says Michael Green, of the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
Amid reports of this death, North Koreans have shown a mix of sadness and panic. They know their lives are probably about to change dramatically. Their indoctrination has them under the guise that Jong-il was protecting them from the evil empires of the West, and surely they’re now fearful of what is to come.
Extraordinary Intelligence will be keeping a close eye on this situation as it develops.
