North Korean and South Korean news agencies are reporting that North Korean Kim Jong-Il is dead.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s mercurial and enigmatic 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 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 leader, reputed to have had a taste for cigars, cognac and gourmet cuisine, was believed to have had diabetes and heart disease.
The Communist dictator who has kept his people in near starvation poverty while he has lived in luxury was 69-years-old. He is said to have been grooming his son, Kim Jong-Un as his successor. The question is whether or not Kim Jong-Un will be a more benevolent dictator than his father. What does Kim Jong-Il’s death mean for the rest of the world?
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Great Christmas present!
Yes indeed!