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BEIJING — The news that North Korea’s “Dear Leader” Kim Jong Il had died made its way to the Chinese capital mid-Monday morning. Very soon, police tape surrounded the North Korean embassy, where its national flag was lowered to half-staff.
State-run newspapers The China Daily and The Global Times posted the news on their websites -- the latter going with a special section dedicated to the eccentric leader of China’s tiny but troublesome northeastern neighbor.
Featuring comments by users of Weibo (the Chinese microblog) and a Kim family tree, the Global Times site was worthy of a Chinese state leader, reflecting the closeness of the two regimes enduring more than half a century.
The Chinese state-run television CCTV broke into regular programming, about twenty minutes before its daily noontime news broadcast, to run a special report on Kim’s death. Its Pyongyang news team was the first to get reaction within the isolated state out to the world. The nine-minute clip shows a variety of North Korean citizens crying, almost all unable to speak to the camera.
Despite running his country like a cult, impoverishing and starving his own people while building a nuclear arsenal, Kim was more often than not ridiculed for his appearance and his personality. Twitter users posted memorable moments such as an Economist magazine cover with Kim with bouffant hair in tinted glasses:Greetings, Earthlings.
We, on the other hand, would like to remember the Dear Leader in action. After all, the DPRK’s Korean Central News Agency said Kim died while travelling back from a “rural inspection tour.” What better way to mark his passing away than with a look back at other inspection tours, thanks to this great Tumblr site.
Updated at 6:41 a.m. ET:
Like father, like son.
Within hours of news of the elder Kim’s death, the Tumblr page above spawned a junior: Kim Jong Un looking at things.
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All governments impoverish their people. The more powerful a government is in relation to the people, the greater the poverty.
The USA, thanks to massive increases in government power, is seeing drastic increases in poverty.
No Sh it Sherlock!Wait it gets better.
Government's do not impoverish their citizens - citizens with their insistence demands for more and more GVT hand-outs is what impoverishes a nation
now would you look at that bottle of soda right there...just look at it ..would you look at this ...hey look at that ..just look at it ...
Good riddence to a piece of trash. I say this as a Korean War Vet. What a piece of garbage. Thank god I outlived him. Now I can laugh and gloat and say nasty things while I give his remains the finger.
Everyone already knows of the trouble, turmoil, and grief that this one person was able to put the world and his own people through. Though I find it doubtful, perhaps his son will see the ways of the new century and decide that he can do so much more for his nation and the entire world by working with instead of against his people and the world. Then, he will be seen as a leader that cares and will be granted respect and admiration that would prove true instead of being demanded. Though doubtful, this would in fact be great. Even nations such as China and Russia have and are learning that it is much easier to work with, other nations of the world, than wanting to have everything as they would like. Having served in Korea and seeing first hand, albeit from across the border, what these people live through is truly a shame. I hope that God in his infinite wisdom and power helps this new leader to do what is right for the nation and the world and turn from the evil ways of his father and grandfather.
That being said, I've seen other posts today, that compare the poverty and harshness of what the people are going through and the similarities of what our own nation is enduring as a result of the actions and decisions made by our own government. Yes, we do have leaders that are concerned about themselves and want to live in a lifestyle, beyond what the masses live; and yes our leaders provide special favors for those who fund and support their interests. I guess one could say it is as they are willing and able to buy the government and the decisions that are made. However, as so many people are going through such a horrible period in their lives as a result of the action/inaction of our government, hopefully, this too shall pass. In North Korea, this has been life for generations.
We can do something about it, in our nation. We can vote those in Congress out of office and hopefully install a government that will address the needs of the many, instead of looking out for themselves and the 3%. We can have a voice in choosing leaders that will address the things that are wrong in our nation, that can be fixed. We can demand that change occurs through the election process, recalling leaders, or demanding resignations, until we have a Congress and government that is: "by the people and for the people". We have a chance to do this in 2012 and hopefully this will serve as a new beginning for the United States and North Korea.
I invite you to a new web site that I was made aware of, that looks to address and discuss things that are wrong in our nation. This is how we can demand change, by uniting as one nation and one voice, not dividing up, to look out only for ourselves. We all need each other and if things get better for those living in poverty within our own nation, it will undoubtedly lead to things getting better for all classes of Americans. The web site is:
WWW dot FREEDOMISNTFREE2012 dot COM
Why would the son want to be better than his father? They have gotten by very nicely treating their people and the rest of the world like Garbage for the last Fifty years or more,Why should they change now? It will work for the next Fifty years. Besides, South Korea wouldn't want open borders with North Korea. Can you imagine the Flood of people that would pour into South Korea? It would be a disaster for south korea.
What the American people are "suffering" are simply self-inflicted wounds caused by their greed.
What a wonderful holiday gift to the world from North Korea!
Kim says, "This isn't Fresca!"
The article says Koreans were so choked up with tears they could hardly talk. Just from the tone of these comments that must mean they were tears of gratitude that he was finally gone.
You're obviously not familiar with Korean nationalism. The people in the North are downright fanatical.
Stockholm Syndrome en masse?
Heh, that's not actually that far from the truth...
The son will probably be just as bad, if not worse. Nut cases breed nut cases. Watch him start to flex his rise to power might.
The son is much fatter and taller than the average North Korean citizen due to being well fed and consuming better food . As the baby in the family dinasty he probably is a spoiler to get his way or else but who knows what his mind is . It may seems that he has some thyroid problem looking at his bulging neck
China has hated North Korea ever since the war. The Koreans wouldn't stop executing American POWs no matter how many times the Chinese told them to stop, and it's been downhill ever since. Frankly, I'm surprised the coverage of Kim's death got even this much air time in the PRC.
That was a nice christmas gift for his starving people I thought. Now if they could do the same to the son it would be a nice New Year's Resolution.
What goes around comes around . The north Koreans will be better off without this scum
Rone-ri, oh so rone-ri.
Like this really changes anything. NK's military is a little more in control and the Chinese get a new figurehead to run orders through.
now wer'e going to start with another moron son all over again! do the north korean people ever get to vote for something? anything?
The people of NK are "whailing" the loss of thier great leader who murderd them, starved them for 50 yrs,
now how do you feel sorry fore a bunch of idiots like that?
Turn North Korea upside down...scrape all the manure off and give it to China...they will make money with it!!!
Dear Departed Leader...we Fart in your General Direction (of your tomb, that is)