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News & ArtsSunday, December 18, 2011
Death / International Kim Jong Il Dead at 70
Posted by Grant Brissey on Sun, Dec 18, 2011 at 7:26 PM
Kim Jong Il, the second-generation North Korean dictator who defied global condemnation to build nuclear weapons while his people starved, has died, Yonhap News reported. He was 70.
The news came in a radio broadcast at noon local time, Yonhap reported, citing North Korea’s official media. Kim probably had a stroke in August 2008 and may have also contracted pancreatic cancer, according to South Korean news reports.
The article goes on to say: "The potential succession of his little-known third son, Kim Jong Un, threatens to trigger a dangerous period for the Korean peninsula, where 1.7 million troops from the two Koreas and the U.S. square off every day."
I did not know that he was a chain smoker.
UPDATE: CBS says he was also believed to have diabetes, which I'm assuming meant Type 2, or adult onset, which means your pancreas still pumps insulin, just not enough of it.
h/t: Slog Tipper Branden M.!
2
So, will it be civil war...or different dictator and the same 'ol starvation...or South Korea absorbs the north relatively peacefully.
5
Don't think the powers that be are going to accept the son. Really interested in seeing this develop.
9
So glad this asshole is dead. Here's hoping for reunification. Food was always conditioned on loyalty, but with so little food to go around anymore, what is the point of being loyal?
11
5 & 7: Agreed. The power struggle could turn very nasty very quick. I think the South Koreans and Chinese (not to mention the Japanese and ourselves) have to be very nervous at this news.
12
By coincidence, I just finished reading Barbara Demick's Nothing To Envy, about ordinary peoples' lives in North Korea, mostly in the 1990s. You may think you have an idea how bad things are in North Korea, but unless you've gone beyond the news reports and the occasional magazine article you probably don't realize just how bad.
16
Such a pity Christopher Hitchens just died and can't write the viciously, bitingly delightful obituary of evisceration that this vile dictator so richly deserved.
17
Huzzah, now the war of terror is over and we can bring the troops home! .... wait, nevermind, wrong international supervillain. Nevermind.
18
Just whoa - what a complete game changer. I hope the Chinese have some worst case scenario plan they can put into place if succession goes poorly. Would they dare turn the North into a protectorate?
I saw the DMZ in '95 and it was one of the most surreal experiences of my life.
@13 - you're a disgusting person with unhealthy fantasies.
I saw the DMZ in '95 and it was one of the most surreal experiences of my life.
@13 - you're a disgusting person with unhealthy fantasies.
20
BTW, Type 2 Diabetes means your pancreas still produces insulin, but your cells become resistant to using it to process glucose. Type 1 Diabetes is where the pancreas stops producing insulin. We don't call them "Juvenile" and "Adult-Onset" anymore because both can occur at any age. I came down with Type 1 at 42.
Anyway, good riddance KJI!
Anyway, good riddance KJI!
21
BTW, I've had type 1 for 15 years. I simplified it for the sake of brevity. But yeah, good riddance.
22
Best case: China quietly puts their people in charge, and dismantles the system very, very slowly over the next 30 years. This has been sort of waiting in the wings for some time.
If the youngest son has a particularly short reign, it means he refused the Chinese. There are two other sons who can be sent in to head the government.
If the youngest son has a particularly short reign, it means he refused the Chinese. There are two other sons who can be sent in to head the government.
24
No snark intended, Grant. And I had no idea we shared this stupid little malady. 15 years? Good for you!
26
@9: The only incentive left to remain "loyal" is that if you don't put on a decent show, you and your entire family are thrown in a work camp for the rest of your existence.
27
@11 One of my long-time closest friends is in South Korea teaching English right now. I'm scared.
28
That's not simplifying, it's just wrong.
Equally brief and more accurate would be: Your pancreas still makes insulin (in fact, it makes more insulin), but your body doesn't respond to it.
Also, the pancreas of a type II diabetic often does quit making insulin due to beta cell exhaustion.
Equally brief and more accurate would be: Your pancreas still makes insulin (in fact, it makes more insulin), but your body doesn't respond to it.
Also, the pancreas of a type II diabetic often does quit making insulin due to beta cell exhaustion.
31
Whew, I thought I was going to get through all of 2011 without one of my picks hitting on my death pool.
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