Kim Jong Il has died

[minionofmidas]

Fare thee well, Kim John-ded, you strange little tyrant.

Wouldn't be surprised if he's been dead for a little while and they only just announced it to be honest.

That thought crossed my mind too, but if it were the case, they could have come up with something suitably more eloquent and ludicrous than a massive heart attack on a train.

It is possible that they merely postdated the actual cause of death by a week or two so they could hash out some details on the succession and the funeral before the announcement.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

He was such a troll.

[hfred]

Um... RIP?

[John Dibble]

I don't wish death on many, but he was on the list. Good riddance. Let's hope some changes for the better occur in North Korea after this.

[Teddy (IDS Legislator)]

Wishing death on someone is awful; and is not akin to celebrating when someone dies. I'd not wish death on Hitler or Stalin if they were alive, but I would celebrate either's death after the fact.

[k-onmmunist]

I don't wish death on many, but he was on the list. Good riddance. Let's hope some changes for the better occur in North Korea after this.

Highly doubtful. I think it'll just be more of the same.

[memphis]

Just for lulz. I wish the 1960s and 2000s weren't cut off, but we all get the idea.

[opebo]

Lets just hope that they don't fall for the capitalist lie now.

[minionofmidas]

I don't wish death on many, but he was on the list. Good riddance. Let's hope some changes for the better occur in North Korea after this.

Highly doubtful. I think it'll just be more of the same.

One Kim, other Kim, what's the difference?

Huge difference, potentially.]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_%28Korean_name%29]Huge difference, potentially.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Just for lulz. I wish the 1960s and 2000s weren't cut off, but we all get the idea.

What I find interesting about that chart is not the ridiculous present-day gap, but that it only started in 1972... what explains the prior 19 years or so of equality?

[Gustaf]

Just for lulz. I wish the 1960s and 2000s weren't cut off, but we all get the idea.

What I find interesting about that chart is not the ridiculous present-day gap, but that it only started in 1972... what explains the prior 19 years or so of equality?

South Korea started out with less industry, if memory serves me. Also, both countries were pretty beaten up after the war which tends to make everything else less relevant.

But I believe it took a while before South Korea started pursuing proper economic policies. And it also takes a while before such policies affect growth and then some time before growth really starts affecting aggregate levels.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

But I believe it took a while before South Korea started pursuing proper economic policies.

Didn't start until Park took power and launched his industrialization program.

[Silent Hunter]

Let's hope this isn't the start of something serious in the Korean Peninsula.

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

This is the first step to reunification under the Soeul government.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

http://www.youtube.com/user/rodrigorojo1#p/u/2/kerV02bc1Ho

I knew this was coming...

[memphis]

http://www.youtube.com/user/rodrigorojo1#p/u/2/kerV02bc1Ho

I knew this was coming...

You knew that he was mortal? Or that people freak out when extreme cults of personality die? Either way, it's as basic as politics can get.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

http://www.youtube.com/user/rodrigorojo1#p/u/2/kerV02bc1Ho

I knew this was coming...

You knew that he was mortal? Or that people freak out when extreme cults of personality die? Either way, it's as basic as politics can get.

I knew that a exact repetition of what happened when Kim Ill Sung died would occur.

[Keystone Phil]

http://www.youtube.com/user/rodrigorojo1#p/u/2/kerV02bc1Ho

I knew this was coming...

You knew that he was mortal? Or that people freak out when extreme cults of personality die? Either way, it's as basic as politics can get.

I knew that a exact repetition of what happened when Kim Ill Sung died would occur.

Yes. Like the rest of us.

[k-onmmunist]

This is the first step to reunification under the Soeul government.

Nah, just another North Korean dictator. Re-unification is going to be decades if not generations away at this rate.

[Хahar 🤔]

[minionofmidas]

Reunification? Under what?

[k-onmmunist]

Reunification? Under what?

At this point, there's such a huge disparity in economics, culture and even language that it would make Germany's re-unification problems look quibbling.

[memphis]

A great example of how dumbs, and therefore, most voters, can be fooled by stats. While I'm sure it's apparant to everybody here, I doubt 5% of people would understand how the graphs greatly distort the data they're presenting. Innumeracy is one of my favorite books ever. My mom is terrible at that sort of thing and she taught high school math for over 30 years.

[Eraserhead]

http://www.youtube.com/user/rodrigorojo1#p/u/2/kerV02bc1Ho

I knew this was coming...

You knew that he was mortal? Or that people freak out when extreme cults of personality die? Either way, it's as basic as politics can get.

I knew that a exact repetition of what happened when Kim Ill Sung died would occur.

Yes. Like the rest of us.

That doesn't even live up to the Kim ll-sung footage. They are not nearly animated enough. I am disappointed.

[Keystone Phil]

http://www.youtube.com/user/rodrigorojo1#p/u/2/kerV02bc1Ho

I knew this was coming...

You knew that he was mortal? Or that people freak out when extreme cults of personality die? Either way, it's as basic as politics can get.

I knew that a exact repetition of what happened when Kim Ill Sung died would occur.

Yes. Like the rest of us.

That doesn't even live up to the Kim ll-sung footage. They are not nearly animated enough. I am disappointed.

While I doubt that it will live up to that footage, let's be fair: the scenes posted above aren't from the funeral. They'll be much more animated when that happens.