Kim Jong Il RIP

The Herald reports:

Kim Jong Il, the mercurial and enigmatic North Korean leader whose iron rule and nuclear ambitions dominated world security fears for more than a decade, has died. He was 69.

Kim’s death 17 years after he inherited power from his father was announced today by the state television from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. The country’s “Dear Leader” reputed to have had a taste for cigars, cognac and gourmet cuisine was believed to have had diabetes and heart disease.

I always felt a bit sorry for him. His father was the truly evil despotic one who imposed his barbaric rule on North Korea. The son never had any chance being raised by such a father, to be any different.

North Korea has been grooming Kim’s third son to take over power from his father in the impoverished nation that celebrates the ruling family with an intense cult of personality.

That would be Kim Jong-un. He spent a few years attending school in Switzerland so may turn out to be slightly more benign that his father and grandfather.