The North Korean leader who has threatened and tested nuclear arms repeatedly, Kim Jong-il, is dead at the age of 69, according to reports from North Korea. Following a 2008 stroke and a number of medical concerns since, it is believed that the North Korean leader suffered a heart attack on Saturday morning while riding on a train.
Many believe that his son, Kim Jong Un, a man only in his 20s - 27 according to unconfirmed sources - will replace him as leader of the nation that has caused much concern to many countries and specific grief to its neighbor to the south, South Korea. The deceased leader allegedly has been grooming his son for nearly two years for the position which he will now likely overtake. Outside of North Korea, little is known about the son who is in-line to assume power.
Kim Jong-il and North Korea have been a grave concern for NATO and countries across the globe since Kim Jong-il stopped his negations regarding international nuclear talks in 2009. Beyond that, he reportedly orchestrated underground nuclear tests.
In the United States, the White House released a statement:
<The U.S. is> closely monitoring reports that Kim Jong-il is dead.
Kim Jong-il was the North Korean leader since his father, Kim Il Sung, passed in 1994. Despite all odds, the dictatorship begun by Kim Il Sung has lasted much longer than predicted by most critics of North Korea. Up to the present, the people of North Korea have allegedly been treated inhumanely with severely poor economic and living conditions involving starvation of many of the country’s people.
Source: CNN
Comments