North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is dead, North Korean state TV said Monday.

Kim, 69, died Saturday, state TV said.

 

The son of Kim Il Song, the founder of the communist nation, Kim Jong Il had been in power since 1994 when his father died of a heart attack at age 82.

 

The enigmatic leader was a frequent thorn in the side of neighboring South Korea, as well as the United States. There have been reports in recent years about his health, as well as that power will be transitioned to his son, Kim Jong Un.

 

South Korea's military declared an "emergency alert" following Kim's death, according to Yonhap, South Korea's news agency.

Edited December 19, 201113 yr by Oricon

Wow 2011 really has NOT been year of the dictators.

I wish I could be optimistic about the prospect of reform in North Korea but I suspect very little will change. I'd love to be proved wrong though.

 

In the meantime, good riddance to bad rubbish.

Apparently his son is worse compared to his father so... :\

Wow 2011 really has NOT been year of the dictators.

 

I came in here to say that. :lol: Mugabe must be getting quite worried.

 

But seriously, who do we have left as public villains of the Western World? Not a lot of them. There's still douchebag leaders out there, but I don't think I could name nearly as many of them as I could a few years ago.

 

Meh at Kim's death. I hope things can change over there, but we could be waiting a while.

 

He died Saturday! :o Quite amazing it's taken until now to reach us, I know North Korea isn't the most open country, but I'd have thought word would have gotten out quicker in this day and age.

you're right man..but maybe north koreans can try have a better living

 

I doubt that. North Korea will be the way it is for a while. It will take some sort of Libya revolution for the current regime to collapse. Kim Jong was some sort of God over there, and the propaganda will already be in full swing of his son. If the North Korean's don't take too lightly too him, he'll probably be even worse to them.

 

The story leaked from South Korea didn't it? North Korea will have wanted to keep the story under wraps for as long as possible. Keeping a big as story like this out of the media for a good 48 hours just goes to show you how much of a blackout there is in the country.

But seriously, who do we have left as public villains of the Western World?

There's still Russia and Putin who is about to be elected again in March!

There's still Russia and Putin who is about to be elected again in March!

 

Dunno whether he could be considered a villain really. The Western world would never have public issues with him unless he started to go Hitler - Russia's too powerful.

I was thinking this year hasn't been a great one for the 'villains' - Osama, Gaddafi and now Kim Jong-il.

 

I'd love to think North Korea could improve now Kim Jong-il is gone but realistically nothing is going to change.