Under its next leader, life in North Korea will improve?

[fuji]

I have no idea, the place is so closed--it seems to me to be a crap shoot. On the one hand this is an opportunity for change, if the new guy is really going to be the son who has been groomed he can leverage his Swiss education to reach out to the West. On the other hand the place is run by the military which may have an interest in maintaining the conflict.

Who knows.

Poll attached!

 

[WoodPeckr]

Hard to say really.
Always thought RED China was using North Korea as their tool to make folks .... especially conservative folks .... soil their knickers over the crazy antics of Kim Jong Il. Then RED China would step in and calm down their loony tune tool and look like the 'good guys'. This same charade could continue on with the son of Kim Jong Il. We will have to stay tuned and watch....

 

[james t kirk]

Definitely maybe.

The kid was probably raised to be a freak though.

Definitely looks like a freak.

 

[y2kmark]

Anyone else see a resemblace between the new guy and Chaz Bono??

 

[red]

the great successor will lead North Korea to victory over victory, bringing wealth and plenty to all who bask in his glow.

 

[LKD]

Seeing how the kid was educated in Switzerland and knows about the west, I'd say yes.

However, most of the citizens have been brain-washed to the nth degree. Can you imagine living your life under such propoganda, with not a clue about what was going on outside the world? It used to drive me nuts seeing all these cults and polygamist who followed wackos like Jeff Warren..... Some of the women and children have been so brainwashed that they choose not to leave that life even after clear evidence of a better life outside. If such thing could happen in our own backyards, I can't fathom how it must've been like in North Korea where every book you can get your hands on is written by the idiot Kim Jong Ill..

well... hate to say it, but glad that he is dead and hopefully a better future lies for all in that region

 

[fuji]

There is hope for them if they change course. Remember that China was in essentially the same configuration under the Cultural Revolution, up until the 7 October 1976 coup--just as economically fucked, just as brainwashed. Once Hua and Deng took over in 1976 they set the country on a new direction, and while nothing changed overnight, obviously 35 years later it's made a big difference! If you're a North Korean and you want your kids to have a better future, there really is a chance for that if things start changing now--your baby born this year might have a decent job, a home, and a car before they're 40.

 

[mjg1]

Anyone else see a resemblace between the new guy and Chaz Bono??

Yeah, I like his hightop fade, maybe he is fan of Kid n Play!

 

[kono]

Will things improve - Maybe, but I'm leaning more towards no. Kim Jong Il had two other son's (older) who he dismissed for what ever reason. So he probably picked the youngest one because he closely resembled himself. Only time will tell. Let's just hope he doesn't start firing nukes at everyone.

 

[LKD]

There is hope for them if they change course. Remember that China was in essentially the same configuration under the Cultural Revolution, up until the 7 October 1976 coup--just as economically fucked, just as brainwashed. Once Hua and Deng took over in 1976 they set the country on a new direction, and while nothing changed overnight, obviously 35 years later it's made a big difference! If you're a North Korean and you want your kids to have a better future, there really is a chance for that if things start changing now--your baby born this year might have a decent job, a home, and a car before they're 40.

Trust me... China wasn't as bad back then. People were free to move around or go anywhere as they please.

 

[cye]

A reporter said and i forget his name North Korea is where predictions go to die.

 

[borgman_1963]

I hear the son is worse than the dad was.

 

[LKD]

I hear the son is worse than the dad was.

I wouldn't think otherwise... I shake my head when I think of the things I did and wanted to do at 29 ><

 

[Brill]

Even if he's Swiss educated, he won't trust the people to know what's best for themselves.

The brainwashing needs a rinse cycle which will take a couple of generations.

 

[wigglee]

maybe, instead of bad mouthing his father, the west should use this opportunity to try and talk to this new guy and see if he can be more reasonable. Extend an olive branch and give him a chance to play nice, at least until he shows himself to be be nasty.

 

[james t kirk]

1. I'm glad the old man is dead. It really is a case of "Good Riddance"

2. Listening the CBC yesterday, the reporter was saying that the kid is anything but a shoe-in, that more than likely, it will be a power struggle the likes of which we have never seen with uncles and cousins and brothers all fighting over power. In the reporter's words, "it will be medieval"

 

[LKD]

maybe, instead of bad mouthing his father, the west should use this opportunity to try and talk to this new guy and see if he can be more reasonable. Extend an olive branch and give him a chance to play nice, at least until he shows himself to be be nasty.

there is no INSTEAD this or that... that old fart was a manipulator of the finest kind... starved and fooled millions of his own people while he lived opulently like a God

 

[LKD]

1. I'm glad the old man is dead. It really is a case of "Good Riddance"

2. Listening the CBC yesterday, the reporter was saying that the kid is anything but a shoe-in, that more than likely, it will be a power struggle the likes of which we have never seen with uncles and cousins and brothers all fighting over power. In the reporter's words, "it will be medieval"

its not going to be an easy transition thats for sure... God forbid one of the crazy generals decide to launch their nuclear arsenal

 

[userz]

Kim Jong Il was 69 and his son is only 27 or 28. I don't believe his son will be ruler of North Korea in 40 or 41 years or that North Korea as we know it will survive. It has been said by several high profile defectors that the manner in which Ceausescu was swiftly deposed and executed rattled the Kims to the core and they were terrified that they would one day be dealt with in a similar fashion. Information about South Korea does trickle in to North Korea and it is only going to be increasingly harder as time goes on for the North to stem the flow of facts from the outside world.

 

[afterhours]

All I want to know is whether their women will become available to Canadians.