UPDATE 1 -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies during train ride

[cowslip]

Joke all you want, guys, but now that he is dead and his son is still young and inexperienced, there will be a lot of uncertainty on the Korean peninsula.

You can bet that both Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing are in high alert mode right now.

edit: More to the point, if some one feels frisky and decides to make a daring move, it could escalate very badly.

quite correct the ,son is a unknown quantity.

Maybe things will get better for the people or maybe worse.

Time will tell.

don't hedge your bets mate!

how about an opinion?

[snooky]

"RT @mpoppel: REU: DEAD N.KOREA LEADER KIM'S SON JONG-UN IS CALLED "GREAT SUCCESSOR" BY STATE NEWS AGENCY KCNA"

Be careful how you pronounce that! !

[TomTao]

He liked to prance and pose in front of his people who were brainwashed into woshipping him as a demi-god, he liked to look like he always had his finger on the trigger, question is, will his successor just rest his finger on the trigger like his father did, of will he pull the trigger? None of the surrounding nations are ever sure what will happen from one day till the next, even thier ally China is often in the dark as to what that desperate nation will do, his death has just upped the level of uncertanty. As one poster said, better the devel you know.

[Fookhaht]

Watching the CNN replay of the N. Korean TV death announcement is so embarrassingly overacted I couldn't bare to watch it all. Apparently, their soap opera stars double as news announcers.

I know they have N. Korean citizens who are genuinely deluded about their "great leader," but this was way over the top, differences in cultures or not.

[Scott]

Posts containing profanity, off-topic posts and replies to them have been deleted.

[wxyz]

now that is GOOD NEWS

the queen is dead, long live the queen

our dear glorious leader, our chunky monkey (in the land of the starving) will crush you

when did communism become a monarchy anyway? in n korea and cuba, go figure

russia appears set to bring back the tsar in putin

Edited December 19, 2011 by wxyz

[jalansanitwong]

I suppose if you were pushed off a train doing 80 km/h death could be attributed to fatigue. A shame he wasnt holding hands with Mugabe when it happened.

[newermonkey]

"he died of physical fatigue"

He probably died on the private luxury train of over eating and drinking the most expensive wines and caviar as his subjects die of starvation and over work.

They lie to make him look good.

Anyone know what the son is like? is he also an idiot?

Edited December 19, 2011 by Scott
profanity edited out

[wxyz]

"DING DONG! KIM JONG IS DEAD"

hahaha nice headlines,,, lol

[techboy]

I'd better re-do my will....I often feel physical fatigue. Didn't know one could actually die of it.

Did not know that fatique can be the cause of death? What century where you educated in? Seriously man. The older you get the higher the risk of a attack. And ohmygod if you also drink and smoke...

[Fookhaht]

Watching the CNN replay of the N. Korean TV death announcement is so embarrassingly overacted I couldn't bare to watch it all. Apparently, their soap opera stars double as news announcers.

I know they have N. Korean citizens who are genuinely deluded about their "great leader," but this was way over the top, differences in cultures or not.

OMG, just watched a scene of the motorcade & hearse with the "Great Leader's" body. The crowd really outdoes the newscaster. The word "hysteria" comes to mind.

How different when JFK was shot, and we 8th graders quietly laid our heads on our desks and wept softly.

Edited December 19, 2011 by Fookhaht

[wxyz]

died FROM fatigue?

or died in fatigues?

[pimay11]

From what I have read he is a diabetic and suffers from hypertension. Also he is a clone of his father. It seems like this is the year for dictator clones to take office.

Edited December 19, 2011 by Scott
quote deleted

[techboy]

I am devistated by this news. Just look at the stock market futures. Probably just wrecked the dwindling possibility of a Santa Clause rally this year.

[webfact]

UPDATE 2 -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies of heart attack

2011-12-19 14:26:55 GMT+7 (ICT)

PYONGYANG (BNO NEWS) -- Kim Jong-il, the mysterious Communist leader who ruled North Korea for more than seventeen years, died of a massive heart attack on early Saturday morning, the government announced on Monday. He was 69 or 70 years old.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim suffered an 'advanced, acute myocardial infarction, complicated with a heart shock,' while on a train for a 'field guidance tour' on Saturday morning. He was pronounced dead at 8.30 a.m. local time.

"Every possible first-aid measure was taken immediately," KCNA said, without disclosing the exact place of his death. It added that the heart attack was the result of "great mental and physical strain caused by his uninterrupted field guidance tour for the building of a thriving nation." An autopsy took place on Sunday.

Kim's body will be taken to the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, where mourners will be received from Tuesday until December 27. A funeral ceremony is scheduled to be held in Pyongyang on December 28.

Following the funeral ceremony, on December 29, memorial services will be held across the country. Guns will be fired in Pyongyang and in the capital cities of each province while North Koreans observe three minutes of silence. All trains and North Korean ships will also blow their sirens.

KCNA said all forms of entertainment will be banned during the mourning period, which will end on December 29 following the nationwide memorial. It said institutions and business will hoist flags at half-mast in honor of Kim.

Kim Jong-un, the third and youngest son of Kim, will lead the memorial service in Pyongyang. KCNA described Kim Jong-un as the "Great Successor" following Kim's death, but gave no specific details although he is widely expected to take over from his father as the Supreme Leader.

Kim's health had been deteriorating in recent years, and state-run media acknowledged for the first time on Monday that he had been receiving medical treatment for 'cardiac and cerebrovascular diseases' for a 'long period'. Kim is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008.

As his health deteriorated, Kim probably knew he didn't have much time left to choose and prepare a successor. In September 2010, Kim Jong-un was appointed as Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission and named a member of the ruling Workers' Party Central Committee.

The appointments were the first publicly announced posts given to Kim Jong-un, who is believed to be in his late 20s and educated in Switzerland. He reportedly resembles his father the most and has always been the favorite among his three sons, although little is known about him.

Kim ruled the Communist nation since the death of his father, Kim Il-sung, in 1994. The mystery about Kim's life extended right back to his birth. North Korea claimed he was born on February 16, 1942, at a secret military camp on the Baekdu Mountain in Japanese Korea, 'under a double rainbow as a new star appeared in the heavens.' But Soviet records indicate he was likely born a year earlier, in the village of Vyatskoye.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-12-19

[HeavyDrinker]

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has died at the age of 69, state-run television has announced.

Doctors in Seoul have described his condition as "satisfactory"

Edited December 19, 2011 by HeavyDrinker

[Fookhaht]

died FROM fatigue?

or died in fatigues?

There's now a new spin from N. Korean media: "Died from overwork."

(Source CNN TV report, 5 minutes ago).

No wonder the crowds are grieving hysterically!

[ingvar]

Well his son looks just as stupid as his father, so probably the son will take over the leading light for the worlds fashion industry.

[bkkjames]

Kim Jong was really ill I guess.

[BTStraveller]

A great loss. With Gaddafi gone as well, who is left to guide the world's fashion industry?

Can someone tell me.........who was first with this fashion sense.......Col Gaddafi, Kim Jong-il or Michael Jackson?

[chrisinth]

Joke all you want, guys, but now that he is dead and his son is still young and inexperienced, there will be a lot of uncertainty on the Korean peninsula.

You can bet that both Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing are in high alert mode right now.

edit: More to the point, if some one feels frisky and decides to make a daring move, it could escalate very badly.

Could nor agree more on those points!!

[wxyz]

died of fatigue from walking around in those platforms

or was he pulling a train, hehehe

[ingvar]

was it James bond "spectre" that inspired them (kadaffi, Castro, Kim, Adinejad) or did they inspire the spectre fashion?

[Fookhaht]

Gaddhafi, Osama and Kim Ill all in 2011. What a banner year!

[ingvar]

why do all dictators that deserve to burn in hell a thousand times over always dress so horribly? is it a secret fashion pact?

[mpoppel]

[Phil Conners]

A great loss. With Gaddafi gone as well, who is left to guide the world's fashion industry?

Can someone tell me.........who was first with this fashion sense.......Col Gaddafi, Kim Jong-il or Michael Jackson?

I thought Chairman Mao founded that fashion.

Incredible how it is possible to brainwash people.

[bkkjames]

I think we have a moment of silence out of respect for the diseased.

[Fookhaht]

Google "crowd psychology" and "herd behavior." Enlightening.

Edited December 19, 2011 by Fookhaht

[davehowden]

I knew he was il but wow what a shame!