North Korea's reclusive leader dies

RNW, 19 December 2011, by RNW News Desk 

 (Photo: ANP)

  

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has died at the age of 69, state television reported on Monday. Kim died early on Saturday of a heart attack, the report said. The reclusive dictator had been in poor health since suffering a stroke in 2008.

An emotional newsreader announced that North Korea's iconic leader had died on a train while visiting an area outside the capital Pyongyang.

Known at home as "the Dear Leader", Kim Jong-il took over North Korea in 1994 after the death of his father Kim Il-sung, the founder of country and known as 'the Great Leader'.

North Korea's state-run news agency KCNA urged people to unite behind his expected heir, youngest son Kim Jong-un.

North Korean media say the funeral for Kim Jong-il will be held on 28 December. The funeral committee will reportedly be headed by Kim Jong-un. A period of national mourning has been declared from 17 to 29 December.

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The unchallenged loner

Kim was the unchallenged head of the reclusive state. Under his rule the country became increasingly impoverished. He alienated North Korea from the world by developing a nuclear arms programme and an arsenal of missiles aimed at Japan and South Korea.

He occupied the world stage as longer than most world leaders, yet little was known about him. He rarely spoke in public or travelled abroad. His official biography was written by a propaganda machine that revered him as a kind of demigod, but says little about the man himself.

Early years

North Korea said Kim Jong-il was born on 16 February 1942 at a secret camp for rebel fighters led by his father near Korea's famed Mount Paektu. But analysts say it's more probable he was born in the Soviet Union when his father was receiving military and other training, together with other Korean communist exiles.

After graduating from college, Kim joined the ruling Worker's Party of Korea in 1964 and quickly rose through its ranks. By 1973, he was the party's secretary of organisation and propaganda, and in 1974 his father appointed him as his successor.

Kim gradually increased his power in domestic affairs over the subsequent years. His control within the ruling party greatly increased when the younger Kim was given senior posts in the Politburo and Military Commission in 1980.

When Kim first took power in 1994, the economy was a shambles due to the loss of traditional trading partners as Cold War ended. Poor harvests and floods then led to famine in which around a million people died.

Despite the tenuous position he held at the beginning of his reign, Kim managed to hold on to power. He introduced economic reforms designed to bring a small and controlled measure of free-market economics into the state-planned economy.

Women and wine

Intelligence experts say Kim Jong-il ordered a 1983 bombing in Myanmar, also known as Burma, that killed 17 senior South Korean officials, and the 1987 destruction of a Korean Air jetliner that killed 115 people. He is also suspected of devising plans to raise cash by kidnapping Japanese citizens, dealing drugs through North Korean embassies, and turning the country into a major producer of counterfeit currency.

Kim was a well-known womaniser, drinker and movie buff, according to those who had been in close contact with him and later left the country. He reportedly amassed a wine cellar with more than 10,000 bottles, consumed vast amounts of lobster and cognac and enjoyed ogling Russian dancing girls.

North Korea's propaganda machine painted a very different picture. It said Kim was a skilled pilot – even though he always travelled by land for his infrequent trips abroad – and that he had a photographic memory, produced films and played golf better than any professional.

Nuclear tensions

When it was revealed that North Korea was building a nuclear arms programme, tensions with the West began to mount. North Korea expelled International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors in December 2002 and said in January 2003 it was quitting the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Relations with the West reached their lowest levels in years in 2010 with the torpedoing of a South Korean warship, which killed 46 sailors.

The South blamed the attack on Pyongyang, but the North denied responsibility. Later that year, the North bombarded a South Korean island, the first such attack against civilian target since the 1950-53 Korean War.

US watching closely

The US announced on Monday morning that it was closely watching events in the region and monitoring the reports of Kim Jong-il’s death. “We remain committed to stability on the Korean peninsula, and to the freedom and security of our allies," the White House said in a statement.

Japan sent its condolences to North Korea this morning and said it hoped the death of the leader would not influence the situation in the country in a negative way.

Stock markets worldwide responded negatively to the news. China and Hong Kong were badly hit, while the Australian dollar also fell.

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"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Caroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“…..   Here is the prediction: China will turn North Korea loose soon. The alliance will dissolve, or become stale. There will be political upheaval in China. Not a coup and not a revolution. Within the inner circles of that which you call Chinese politics, there will be a re-evaluation of goals and monetary policy. Eventually, you will see a break with North Korea, allowing still another dictator to fall and unification to occur with the south. ….”