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North Koreans at a turning point following Kim Jong-il’s death
by Joseph Yun Li-sun
A South Korean government source tells AsiaNews, “Pain for the dictator’s death is real. People saw him as a source of pride because of his military challenge to the world. Now North Korea could free itself from the dictatorship but people inside must make the first move. An outside intervention would be devastating.” Beijing expresses its condolences, whilst the US is alarmed.
Seoul (AsiaNews) – Kim Jong-Il’s death “opens the door to disturbing scenarios. He was not only the country’s, ‘dear leader’, the second to take over following the death of the founder, Kim Il-sung; he was much more. For outsiders, it is hard to understand. North Koreans are at a turning point, perhaps unique in the country’s history. In any case, South Korea is ready for any eventuality,” said a source in South Korea’s Interior Ministry, who spoke to AsiaNews about the death of the dictator of Pyongyang.
“It is not possible to look at the images coming from North Korea (showing people crying in the streets and offices of Pyongyang - see here) and dismiss them as propaganda. People’s pain is in a certain sense real. Kim Il-sung created the regime but his son strengthened it with the atomic weapon. This is a crucial fact to understand North Korean pride, for whom the late leader was not just a crazy warmonger, but the one who earned for the country world respect.”
Many scenarios are possible. “Now the power of Kim Jong-un, the third son and heir apparent, must be confirmed. His uncle Jang Song-taek, the regime’s N. 2 and the party’s strongman, and his wife, sister to the late dictator, are close to him. Two years ago, they were appointed his tutors, but they could eliminate him from power. What is certain is that the regime could be overthrown.”
This possibility “must come from the people. Outside interventions would exacerbate popular anger at the outside world. We must and can support an internal movement, but we cannot envisage a military option. Now the domestic economy will suffer a major blow. Food prices are already going up. If they do nothing, it will be hard to intervene.”
People are waiting for a reaction from Beijing. “"Shocked by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's death, we express our deep condolences and send sincere condolences to the Korean people," said Ma Zhaoxu, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The United States, which with South Korea and Japan, is the other armed power in the region, said they were closely monitoring the situation to preserve stability in the Korean Peninsula.