According to CBS News, Kim Jong Il passed away on Saturday but no announcement was made until Monday after an autopsy. He was 69 years old. This clip from the Associated Press shows the different reactions to his death and, even though I know little about Kim Jong Il, it doesn't surprise me much. What are your thoughts on this? What do you think is to be expected of heir Kim Jong Un?

yeh i saw that, heres the british report on it:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16250499
He was an idiotic dictator so who cares, north korea is a hell hole thanks to him and his son knows as much as his father about ruling a country, which is 0.
He was clearly dying and its a tribute to his brainwashing that people are crying about it, i doubt the starving citizens outwith the capital even have the means of finding out hes dead.

I'm not too surprised considering he's been ill for a while now. His death does not change much. His successor will likely rule the same way.

North Korea does not really pose a threat to the United States, so if his son can do better than him, and help make ties with the US, that would be great. If NK were to attack us, SK would be on our side, according to an article I read. NK is not that big.

The problem is that North Korea as it stands now, wouldn't hesitate to nuke us if they could... that's what makes them dangerous. Nothing is really known about Kim Jong Un, so let us hope he is saner than his father was.

I wonder how many people have already looked up the Korean War on Wikipedia as a result of this.

Elara : the benefit of them reading it on wiki instead of national textbooks is that its got contributions from different nationalities.
Its a shame that n.koreans are still enslaved :/
Acording to his sons clasmates he flunked everysubject except math,not exactly leader material.

kakmybro : North Korea IS a threat. They have the world's 5th largest standing army, and their closest ally is China. Yes America would likely have SK on their side in the war, but its not too unrealistic that China would join up with NK. Now I think America and their allies would win, but it would be a war of such a great magnitude that it should be avoided at all costs.

On a local news station they said the Kim Jong Un studied in Switzerland, so lets hope some european/western lifestyle and information has been lodged somewhere in that brainwashed mind. Above all else I hope he doesn't become god-like in North Korea's eyes like his father was.

smotpoker86 : You do realize that is exactly what happened during the Korean War, right? And it ended in a draw. I have a feeling that it would be much the same now, or it would go badly for us since NK wouldn't hesitate to nuke the south, or us.

We can hope his time in Europe help him... but I somehow doubt it since that is why the older two sons didn't get named sucessor. The first one fell out of favor for trying to sneak out of the country to go to Disneyworld Tokyo. But, we can hope.

Elara :
smotpoker86 :
China has distanced itself from north.k and wikileak cables from china suggest they wouldnt stop the reunification of the 2, the south.k and allies could beat the north,the problem is no one knows how many misiles the north has and if any are nukes.its very hard to stop missiles, n.korea are dumb enough to attack citys so it could go very bad.
As for hoping the new leader is more western he flunked most of his subjects so i wouldnt hold your breath...

He isn't dead ,it's only a matter of time for either side to cause great
conflict.America might restore order to Korea But Then we're at stake
on battling 2 countries at the moment once we carried out on battling
Korea we loses numbers  Russia  will advance on attacking us but the U.S
Have Allies with other countries only time will tell.

Elara : I was talking more along the lines of North Korea attacking America, on American soil. Kakmybro was coming across (in my mind) like America is untouchable or invincible, which is just plain wrong. If North Korea isn't a threat to America than what countries are? Of course they are more likely to try and gain control of South Korea rather than go after America, as that seems to be their main concern and is the reason why American troops are stationed along the border in South Korea.

I still think America would end up victorious , at the very least it is more likely than North Korea winning. America's military is far too advanced for Korea or Korea/China to handle. With that said, it would likely be a long war with lots of death on both sides. In my opinion, It would be more comparable to the number of deaths from one of the world wars instead of some of the more recent wars  America have been in like the Korean or Vietnam wars.

thenumberone : You are right that China has politically distanced it self from North Korea compared to the last Korean War. It is debatable whether or not China would join up with them, and there are decent arguments for both sides of that debate. As long as that possibility exists (of China Joining them) the situation has to be treated like they will join up with them, if you are planning to win the war.

A problem i have with your post is that you called North Korea dumb enough to attack citys. I am not trying to stand up for the Korean tyrants , but dumb is not one of the words I would use to describe them.  I would use a word like arrogant, reckless, self centered, hell even brainwashed would be a better fit. Oddly enough I see these words fitting to describe many aspects of America, which to my knowledge, are the only government to attack a city (Baghdad) in recent years.

I am not holding my breath that this new leader will change North Korea, but is much more possible now than with the former leader. The way I see it, he could take the country in one of 3 general directions. He could change the country for the better ending poverty, stopping state forced indoctrination, spending less money on the military. Kim Jung Un could also keep the status quo and try not to stir the pot too much so to speak, or he could enforce even more strict laws than his father did and focus more on military and care less about the Korean people just as long as they see him as a supreme leader. I am just hoping for the former.

I studied Korean politics before, and their political structure is fairly fascinating. I will say that unless the United States provides a DIRECT threat to their affairs, they will not wage war with the Americans in my own opinion. A large number of countries have nuclear capabilities but in all actuality NO MAJOR power cares to use them due to their destructive nature beyond the threat. I think the more likely events will be one of two things

1) His son will take over smoothly in Korea and there will be little internal friction.
2) There will be civil unrest and the potential for a revolution during this transition period would be magnified, possibly causing a civil war.

The only aspect about the latter possibility is the fact that North Korea is a heavily militarized state and it would be immensely difficult for the people to actually mobilize, even if a sufficient number had the knowledge or will. he only means it would be possible is if a high ranking military official saw it as an opportunity.

As to what his son will do...it is difficult without knowing more about him, but it is likely that he will continue North Korea's isolationist policy.

smotpoker86 :
I'm sorry, did you misunderstand me? I didn't ever AT ALL say that America is invincible or too powerful to be destroyed. All I'm saying is, even though North Korea seems like a threat to us, SK will help us out.

Well, I can't exactly say that this death was undeserved, as Kim Jong Il was a tyrannical dictator that oppressed and brainwashed his people. However, this means that North Korea will enter a state of instability as their long standing leader has just died. There will be riots, fights for power, and other events of the sort. Not to mention the fact his son might take over, who has been rumoured to be even worse than Kim Jong Il (don't take my word for it though, I could be wrong). Then you have to consider the fact that other countries might try to intervene to "stabilize" the nation, which might end up making matters worse, especially in a country with nuclear weapons. It would seem like no matter what we do or what happens, now will be a time of struggle, confusion, and possible consequence for everyone, especially North and South Korea.

kakmybro : It wasn't my intention to put words into your mouth, so I apologize if it came across that way.  Honestly, it often seems like some Americans feel like they can take on the world when discussing wars with them. I am not trying to generalize you all into one group, but some people do fit into that category... "North Korea does not really pose a threat to the United States" made me think you felt that way too.  You cleared it up in your reply though, so no need to get into a debate about if you think America is unstoppable or not.

To be fair, you guys do have the worlds most advanced military, so I can understand why some Americans may feel like their country is untouchable. I'm just thankful Canada is allied with the USA lol.