The Death of Kim Jong-il, and What May be to Come

Kim Jong-il, Supreme Leader of North Korea

After years of ill health and speculation, a black hearse pulled up to the North Korean palace to drive Kim Jong-il away for the last time. For as long as Kim Jong-il has been in power he has had two stories to his life.

In one story, a work of fiction, Kim Jong-il was the “supreme leader”, beloved by his people and in return providing them with everything they could ever need. He was deified and was said to have the power to control the weather based on his mood. His birthday was the most important holiday in North Korea and mass celebrations occurred all across the nation.

But this fiction has always been completely transparent. Under Kim Jong-il’s rule, Korean’s have starved to death by the millions and the country has stayed mired in extreme poverty while their southern brethren jumped into the first world.

Kim Jong-il was born in 1941. After graduating college he went directly in politics, rising quickly through the ranks of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party.  Eventually becoming the supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il became the de facto leader of North Korea, granting control of the fourth largest standing army in the world. 

Over time, North Koreans developed a large personality cult around Kim Jong-il, with his likeness posted in many North Korean homes.  While Kim Jong-il enjoyed his celebrity status, much of North Korea suffered from the martial law enacted during their dictator’s reign. As his wet nurse, Sun-joo Park said, “Kim Jong-il was always very aggressive, mean to everyone… I was not surprised he let the people of North Korea starve.”

His death left North Korea in a state of advanced instability, leading to the attack on Northern Australia by North Korean forces, killing as many as 55,000 according the Australian war ministry.  Kim Jong-un, the oldest son of the deceased dictator, is assumed to take control of North Korea, but political complications may leave the Korean Peninsula under extremely adverse conditions.  According to North Korean’s foreign affairs minister, the launch codes were stolen by a dissatisfied general who feared being ousted by Kim Jong-un. 

Hopefully, Kim Jong-un will take control of his country so future disasters are avoided.

- Ron Bergundy and Wolf Plitzer