Monday, December 19, 2011

Kim Jong-il: Dead at 69 or 70


Kim Jong-il:  Dead at 69 or 70
He died on an Mfing train...not a boat. 
From Reuters, ((North Korea's official KCNA news agency said the elder Kim died at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday (6:30 p.m. EST on Friday) after "an advanced acute myocardial infarction, complicated with a serious heart shock." Kim had suffered a stroke in 2008, but had appeared to have recovered from that ailment. ))
Kim Jong was a strange fellow that I was fascinated with because of the Cult of Personality surrounding his rule.  He was the son of the Great Leader, his father, yet had this strange mystery about him.  There are many stories about him and even his birth date might be conflicting with what is recorded. 
He was a stanch supporter of Communism, yet had no problem collecting capitalism products such as expensive cars and American movies.  His entire country is under total lockdown, yet he receives outside material things. 
For me, it is interesting to see his fascination with Hollywood and Japanese movies and pop culture, which he restricted his people from watching. 
He was so into Godzilla movies that he decided to make his own movie. 
From Wiki, ((Kim was said to be a huge film fan, owning a collection of more than 20,000 video tapes and DVDs.[125] His reported favorite movie franchises included Friday the 13thRamboGodzilla, and Hong Kong action cinema,[126] and any movie starring Elizabeth Taylor.[127] He was the author of the book On the Art of the Cinema. In 1978, on Kim's orders, South Korean film director Shin Sang-ok and his actress wife Choi Eun-hee were kidnapped in order to build a North Korean film industry.[128] In 2006 he was involved in the production of the Juche-based movie Diary of a Girl Student – depicting the life of a girl whose parents are scientists – with a KCNA news report stating that Kim "improved its script and guided its production" ))
I already covered Kim's “movie” in a post years ago on my blog. But, he did kidnap a director and forced him to make a rip-off Godzilla movie called Pulgasari. He also wanted Shin Sang to help build the North Korean film industry. Pulgasari was a monster that ate metal and fought in the upraising of the poor people against a tyrant. (I am not making this up just watch the movie on You Tube)
Plus, everyone remembers the rather amusing depiction of Kim (Lil Kim as Bill Maher calls him) in the movie Team America.
Side Note: The Creators of South Park and Team America seem to slip in Star Trek References in all their movies. Kim Jong II seems to have a bug-like alien that leaves his mouth once he dies, just like Star Trek II and Star Trek TNG's episode “Conspiracy”.
While I doubt there will be major change in the North, I can hope for some change within the country. 

2 comments:

  1. When Stalin died (1952), the vast majority of his supporters ceased immediately supporting the policies of his regime. The same thing also happened when TITO died in Yugoslavia. Unfortunately, I don't believe the same thing will happen in North Korea.

    Kim Jong Il inherited his power after his father, Kim Il Sung died in 1994. I think his son Kim Jong Un will probably become the next leader. There have been some unconfined reports that Kim Jong Un has been already announced as leader.

    Sadly, it's the people of North Korea that are going to continue to suffer the most from the continuation of this regime. Only the people of North Korea can initiate the necessary change the country needs to become a democratic, free and stable nation.

    Maybe the two Korean peninsulas will become reunited?

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  2. I hope they will unite, but the culture between the two countries is so different that it will take a long time.

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