Thread: No clear successor to Kim seen in North Korea

North Korea is fascinating to me on a bizarro horror movie level. Now Kim Jong Il may be dead. What will happen to this totally fucked up country?

The eldest son, 37-year-old Jong Nam, was long considered Kim's favorite — until he tried to sneak into Japan using a fake Dominican passport in a bid to get to Tokyo's Disney resort in 2001.

His second son, 27-year-old Jong Chol, is believed to have spent part of his school years in Switzerland. He reportedly was appointed to a high position in the Korean Workers' Party last year, making him a likely candidate.

But Kenji Fujimoto, who says he was private sushi chef to Kim for 13 years, claims the "Dear Leader" believes the second son is too soft and instead favors his youngest son, Jong Un, 24, who apparently looks and acts just like his father.

This guy thinks he died in 2003:

Professor Toshimitsu Shigemura wrote in a book that Kim disappeared from public for 42 days in 2003. He speculates that Kim actually died then — and that his many well-trained doubles have been acting as the leader, with a tight circle of advisers running the country.

North Korean officials have denied the claims, and there has been no confirmation of the theory even though Shigemura says a voice analysis of a 2004 meeting shows the man in the negotiations was not Kim.

The Associated Press: No clear successor to Kim seen in North Korea

Maybe this will give the opening for both sides to negotiate a reunification.

And then today they announce he has had a stroke. Has the cover been blown and now they have to kill off a double?

The country is hopeless. The available farm land is not adequate to feed thier 23 million people, they have no money, they hate Americans, centralized Communism distributes inadequacy evenly and mostly not at all. no electricty...

North korea can pound sand, i'm sick of their bs. They're completely a non issue and total loser maggots. Fuck em.

Originally Posted by Zaragrunudgeyon

North korea can pound sand, i'm sick of their bs. They're completely a non issue and total loser maggots. Fuck em.

What a caring, Christian attitude.

I don't know how much change we should expect from a change in leadership. I'll admit I don't know too much about the internal workings of the North Korean government (nor do many people, I suppose), but a country of 23 million isn't run by just one man - the same ruling class is going to be there. I suppose the question is probably whether they see they could scrape far more luxuries for themselves in a more open dictatorship than the bizarre, shut-off world that Korea currently is; and whether they think an opening of society would inevitably drive them from power.

North Korea reminds me of Albania which for years was shut off from the world with its wierd Envir Hoxa (spelled it wrong) leader and his strange Stalinist regime.

I doubt anyone really knows who is in the position to replace him at this point. I mean yah it appears he was grooming one of his sons but you just never know.

I am not sure South Korea is too anxious for reunification. It sort of has the same implication as what happened when Germany reunified. Trying to absord back such a poor and destitute nation with the vibrant South Korean capitalist economic system is bound to put a drain on South Korea and I am sure they are very nervous at being swamped by tens of millions of starving people. It could in fact be a social disaster.

Why is it important. Strategically the South Korean economy collapsing under the weight of having to absorb North Korea would trigger shock waves throughout the Asian markets and then on to the West and quite frankly probably be of benefit only to China who would step in to fill the void left behind by South Korea as it struggles to readjust if it had to absorb North Korea. Right now next to Japan, South Korea is the only economy in Asia that can serve as albeit a limited form of competition for the out of control predatory pricing of the Chinese economic engine.

Originally Posted by roobarb

I am not sure South Korea is too anxious for reunification. It sort of has the same implication as what happened when Germany reunified. Trying to absord back such a poor and destitute nation with the vibrant South Korean capitalist economic system is bound to put a drain on South Korea and I am sure they are very nervous at being swamped by tens of millions of starving people. It could in fact be a social disaster.

This is why many in South Korea are advocated a phased and gradual integration of the two economies - of which the shared economic zones (I think that's what they're called) are supposed to be a beginning. This is from the President's office:

"Second, greater inter-Korean economic cooperation will lead to the building of a foundation for an inter-Korean economic community. As witnessed in the case of the reunited Germany, investments in the North, as a preemptive advance into the country, will help create conditions conducive to developing a single economic sphere on the Korean Peninsula. From 1973 to 1990, West Germany spent an annual average of US$3.2 billion for East Germany in a bid to prevent the pre-occupation of the East German market by other West European countries.

In addition, investment in the North can be construed as an upfront investment. Germany paid a total of 1.25 trillion euro (1.5 quadrillion won) or an annual average of 83.3 billion euro (100 trillion won) as the cost of reunification over the 15 years following reunification. The case of Germany should serve as a reminder that it is imperative for us to reduce the cost of reunification by investing in the North."

Did you ever see any of the video that people took undercover there? The entire population is suffering from severe mental disorders of one kind or another. If I was South Korea I would hesitate to take them in, their grasp of reality is pretty tenous.

There is an underground resistance movement trying to help, but it's very difficult. My feeling is when KJI goes, the country will just fall apart and the border will evaporate. Like it or not, SK will get stuck with the majority of the problems.