Kim Jong "Mentally" Il dead

[Redith]

Kim Jong, Gaddalfi, and Osama, dead all this year? Dreams do come true

[Britany]

i think good times are ahead...with all these horrible people dying and countries ruled by dictators becoming democracies i think it's a good sign that things are changing for the better

[Sukurachi]

ummm... not to poop on anyone's party, but.. which countries exactly are "becoming democracies"?

I say "wait and see" before being so optimistic.

[Redith]

ummm... not to poop on anyone's party, but.. which countries exactly are "becoming democracies"?

I say "wait and see" before being so optimistic.

A mre realistic situation is "A less crazy sonofab**** is is charge now" lol

[Sukurachi]

I highly doubt that.
At this point, Kim's 3rd son is the one in line to be "leader" (they already refer to him as "supreme leader").

However, his age (he's in his early 20s) and relative lack of experience, mean that he will be nothing more than a figurehead, a "front" if you will, for the real leaders, who will the the generals of the N.Korean army.

In other words, absolutely nothing will change in N.Korea.
The entire state's resources go to the army, to the detriment of the people.
That isn't likely to change under an oh-so-slightly camouflaged military dictatorship.

[Redith]

I highly doubt that.
At this point, Kim's 3rd son is the one in line to be "leader" (they already refer to him as "supreme leader").

However, his age (he's in his early 20s) and relative lack of experience, mean that he will be nothing more than a figurehead.

I disagree. Granted he could be worse then his dad but hand a 20 year old a Country and full godlike power then try to tell him how to run it? Yha good effen luck lol

[Sukurachi]

We will revisit this topic in a year. Then we will know whether your wide-eyed optimism or my grizzled pessimism were in fact correct.

N.Korea is already a military dictatorship.
Not unlike a few other countries in the region.

Remember that Kim Jong "I'm so ronery" Il was a "four star general" in the N.Korean military.

And his son is as well.

The military will never allow their privileged position to be usurped by a young whipper-snapper new to the throne game.

[Lupis]

Lets just be happy this generation of insane leaders is done, yes? Sure, more may be coming, but at least that's three down.

[Britany]

Lets just be happy this generation of insane leaders is done, yes? Sure, more may be coming, but at least that's three down.

that's what I meant to say and I wasn't saying north Korea was becoming a democracy I'm talking about countries ruled by dictators in general like egypt and such are trying to make a change it's just nice to see that dictators are dying and the countries have brighter futures, sure they won't be the last dictators but its never a bad thing to hear someone awful has died. cmon you don't have to shoot down my optimism

[Wain]

While I'm happy that a strongly repressive dictator is gone, I'm also worried. North Korea has a history of seemingly random and unstable decisions and this could set them off to do just about anything.

[Chimera]

The world is currently on high defence right now with Kim Jong Il dead. North Korea is extremely dangerous and can reach every country with their nuclear weapons. The news has been going crazy, wondering how things will turn out, the countries near Korea, especially South Korea who i know has always been in somewhat unfavorable terms (that might even be greatly underestimated, i lost touch with a friend who lives in South Korea a long time ago when the forum we posted on started to slowly die and hes never on facebook).

This man is in his late 20's, has no experience in the military or politics, he may be the only reputable son but there is little doubt that his youth and inexperience will be taken into question and the world is fearing that the military will try to lead the country which may result in an offensive attack. There is so little information on this man and how things might start to flow from now on, and there is speculation by the US Military that was spoken about on the news that North Korea may or may not have technology allowing nuclear weapons to be placed on smaller warheads.

The technology to put them on warheads is out there, its known, but its speculated that they've managed to make these weapons smaller which is putting the countries in even greater fear since im sure they can be more easily stored, transported and deployed. North Korea is extremely unpredictable and with these 3 sons being the very last legs of the Kim Jong dynasty who they revere so deeply, if anything was to happen to Kim Jong (Ur? Ul? I forget the end to the name) and some one new came to power, that will most probably set something off. The military will probably very easily be able to convince this man to do what they want if he finds himself overwhelmed to the point where he becomes compliant to what they suggest and the people will follow him like zombies because the dynasty he descends from is greatly loved and like i said before, revered.

The whole world is watching and waiting, gathering as much information as they can because right now is a very, very dangerous time if things go sour.

[Worba]

Kim Jong, Gaddalfi, and Osama, dead all this year? Dreams do come true

Yep.

The first 2 did ofc leave behind power vacuums, and it's true that things could go either way there, but it's still an opportunity.

My hope is that NK progressives envious of the recent growth of China and India will have a bit more sway with the new ruler than the old guard will, resulting in some small improvement. Probably nothing major, but hey - baby steps, right?

Libya is (even) more of an unknown - I can't recall hearing much about the rebels who overthrew Khaddafi, which leads me to suspect they received at least some aid from AQ and various others of its ilk. So I think a lot depends there on what sort of assistance western countries are able/willing to provide with the reconstruction, formation of the new government etc. But again, at least it's a chance for improvement, where there really was none before.

Ultimately as others have noted, we will just have to see.

As for #3 on your list... pure awesome afaic.

[Sukurachi]

Unfortunately, those "in charge" of handling the new Kim ruler are the sister and brother-in-law of the previous leader, both definitely hard-liners.

There is very little hope for progressive change in N.Korea.