SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Kim Jong Il, North Korea's mercurial and enigmatic longtime leader, has died. He was 69.

Kim's death was announced Monday by the state television from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

Kim is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008 but he had appeared relatively vigorous in photos and video from recent trips to China and Russia and in numerous trips around the country carefully documented by state media. The communist country's "Dear Leader" — reputed to have had a taste for cigars, cognac and gourmet cuisine — was believed to have had diabetes and heart disease.

The news came as North Korea prepared for a hereditary succession. Kim Jong Il inherited power after his father, revered North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, died in 1994. In September 2010, Kim Jong Il unveiled his third son, the twenty-something Kim Jong Un, as his successor, putting him in high-ranking posts.

Wow...he will not be missed.

nykshaknbake wrote:Probably just more of the same with his son and the same advisors. If anything there may be a show of force initially to solidify his leadership and give notice to the international community that he's not to be trifled with.

He launched a short range missile on the East Coast of North Korea already...Niiiicceeee!!!

MarburyAnd1Crossover wrote:Do the North Koreans know he is dead???

Yep. I heard they were crying and having a fit

ATrain wrote:

MarburyAnd1Crossover wrote:Do the North Koreans know he is dead???

Yep. I heard they were crying and having a fit

I believe the stranglehold is as powerful as ever, the thumb is firmly pressing down on the population, and the wild card is, of course, their nuclear weapon capacity.

While the death of Kim Jung Il will give us some holiday cheer, I don't think much will change in the next 10-20 years. But still, this is a rare opportunity to further our policy, however small the crack may be, and we must do everything in our power to blow it open.