White House spokesman Jay Carney says that the White House has 'no new concerns' as a result of the North Korean leader's death and potential succession by his youngest son Kim Jong Un.
9.12pm The next leader of North Korea inherits a country unable to feed its people - but bristling with military hardware. Its armed forces are the fifth-largest in the world - and on per capita basis has the highest percentage of military personnel of any nation, at one enlisted soldier for every 25 people. Its arsenal includes:
• enough plutonium to build six or seven atomic weapon - although warheads have not yet been built
• at least 1,000 missiles, including some with a range of 1,800 miles. Three intercontinental Taepodong missiles have been test-launched.
• 2,500-5000 tonnes of chemical weapons, believed to include anthrax, mustard gas, sarin and phosgene.
• 1.2m conscripted soldiers
• 3,500 battle tanks, 8,000 artillery pieces, 11,000 anti-aircraft guns and 2,500 rocket launchers
• three frigates, 92 submarines, 130 hovercraft and hundreds of smaller craft
• 80 bombers, 540 fighters, 580 transport helicopters, 24 combat helicopters and at least one unmanned drone.
Female North Korean soldiers during a huge parade to mark the 65th anniversary of the regime. See more pictures in our gallery from the day.
8.45pm A joke circulating Twitter this morning, following the deaths of the Czech democrat Havel, writer Christopher Hitchens and dictator Kim Jong-il:
<noframe>Twitter: Joshua Treviño - I'd like to think God let Havel and Hitchens pick the third.</noframe>
The late Hitchens, as it happens, visited North Korea, and
concluded the regime was not Communist - just racist.
One evening, as we tried to dine on some gristly bits of duck, my minder mentioned yet another reason why the day should not long be postponed when the whole peninsula was united under the beaming rule of the Dear Leader. The people of South Korea, he pointed out, were becoming mongrelized. They wedded foreigners—even black American soldiers, or so he'd heard to his evident disgust—and were losing their purity and distinction.
8.14pm The US has called on North Korea to meet its obligations to end its nuclear programme.
"We hope that the new North Korean leadership will take the steps necessary to support peace, prosperity and a better future for the North Korean people including ... acting on its commitments to denuclearization," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
7.56pm Senator John McCain, the former Republican candidate for president, has offered his thoughts on the death of Kim Jong-il. The Vietnam veteran said:
I can only express satisfaction that the Dear Leader is joining the likes of Gaddafi, Bin Laden, Hitler, and Stalin in a warm corner of hell.
6.51pm US secretary of state Hillary Clinton is holding a press conference with the Japanese foreign minister.
She said:
We both share a common interesting a peaceful and stable transition in NK. We have been in close touch with our partners in six-party talks today. President Obama and President Lee spoke last night. I spoke to Foreign Minister Kim this morning. We are reaching out to Beijing and Moscow and closely co-ordinating with our Japanese friends. We reiterate our hope for improved relations with the people of North Korea and remain deeply concerned about their well-being.
It was expected the US would make a substantial food donation to North Korea in return for the country suspending its nuclear programme, ending the deadlock and restarting six-party talks on the country's nuclear future. A power-struggle could put that back on ice.
6.25pm From the Telegraph archives:
North Korea's palaces, elite-only waterparks, mass graves and gulags have been plotted by a team of amateur intelligence analysts
using Google Earth imagining, photographs and eye-witness reports.
Their website identifies Kim Jong Il's manicured residence in an area reserved for North Korea's ruling elite. The pool's glittering blue water contrasts sharply with the parched landscape of much of North Korea, where droughts and famines have led to an estimated two million deaths in recent years.
By mapping the way the country's infrastructure is laid out, Mr Melvin also has been able to reveal the way Mr. Kim has favoured loyalists and punished others.
"We can tell by looking at the elite compounds that they have better sources of power and nicer roads leading to them," Mr Melvin told The Sunday Telegraph. "Some towns have no power supply at all."
6.21pm A man carries a bouquet to the North Korean embassy in Ealing, West London.
Earlier today two members of staff left the embassy to raise the North Korean flag. They ignored suggestions from members of the press to put the banner at half-mast.
6.01pm The UN has marked the death of Kim Jong-il by condemning the human rights abuses perpetrated by his regime.
The 193-member Assembly urged North Korea "to immediately put an end to the systematic, widespread and grave violations."
North Korea rejected the resolution, insisting there have been no such rights violations.
The annual condemnation of North Korea was passed by the General Assembly by 123 votes to 16, with 51 abstentions. China was among the countries to oppose the resolution.
Step in time: women soldiers during celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the founding of Workers' Party North Korea, September 2008
A
5.48pm Some more footage of grief-stricken North Koreans learning of the death of Kim Jong-il.
Handily, a television crew was on hand at the moment news of his death was announced on state television.
5.35pm US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called for a "prudent" approach to North Korea following the death of Kim Jong-il, a Pentagon spokesman said.
In a phone conversation with his South Korean counterpart, Panetta and Defense Minister Kim Kwan-Jin "agreed that it is critical to remain prudent with respect to all matters related our security posture there and pledged to keep one another informed in the coming days".
5.29pm Ban Ki-moon, the leader of the
UN and the former foreign secretary of South Korea has pledged to increase UN help for the DPRK after the death of Kim Jong-il. The UN has been desperately trying to raise international funds to support the people of North Korea amid a new food crisis - but less than 20pc of the $218m sought has been raised.
"The secretary general reaffirms his commitment to peace and security on the Korean peninsula. The United Nations system will continue to help the people of the DPRK (North Korea)," said spokesman Farhan Haq.
Ban, a former foreign minister for the North's arch-rival South Korea, extended his "sympathy" to the people of North Korea "at this time of their national mourning."
5.03pm A fantastic piece of film-making by Newsnight's Sue Lloyd-Roberts, who visited North Korea to expose the chasm between the regime's rhetoric and the dreary reality of life in the People's Republic. She drove her state minders to the brink as she attempted to film the secret private markets on which the populace depend to survive. The film won an Emmy.
We were beginning to attract hostile attention, so we returned to the official programme; days spent visiting factories, and evenings at the theatre, where I sat alongside equally bored-looking generals watching a ballet about the triumphant building of a hydro-electric dam. I was getting desperate.
She notes how the one tractor on a state farm she visits carries an EU sticker, to the embarrassment of officials in a country which claims to be self-sufficient but is, in fact, dependent on international aid to avoid starvation.
4.57pm Here are citizens of Pyongyang in public displays of grief for Kim Jong-il.
Alice Ross of the Financial Times tweets:
<noframe>Twitter: Alice Ross - Some seriously weird scenes in Pyongyang. Check out the guy who starts crying only when he sees the camera. <a href="http://t.co/aIZ9OsAV" target="_blank">http://t.co/aIZ9OsAV</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=kimjong" target="_blank">#kimjong</a></noframe>
A tearful Kim Yong Ho told reporters from AFP that Kim Jong Il had made people's lives happier. "That is what he was doing when he died: working, traveling on a train," he said.
"How could the heavens be so cruel? Please come back, general. We cannot believe you're gone," Hong Son Ok shouted in an interview with North Korea's official television, her body shaking wildly.
But a foreigner who teaches at a university in Pyongyang told The Associated Press that students told about Kim's death from a reported heart attack looked very serious but didn't show any outward emotion.
"There was a blanket of silence" over Pyongyang, said the teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of worries about his security. "People were going about their business. Lots of people were lining up to lay flowers at official portraits. People looked a little stunned and very serious, but composed and respectful."
4.40pm The Pentagon is monitoring events on North Korea, but says Pyongyang's military has taken no provocative steps so far.
The test firing Monday of two short-range missiles by North Korea was "a regularly scheduled launch" and there was no indication it was linked to the death of the North Korean leader, the officer said.
4.19pm Esquire magazine has written a fitting tribute to Kim Jong-il's fashion.
With his monochrome suits, all oversized and boxy, and his eye for Cuban boots and avant-garde eyewear, Kim Jong Il has always had a bit of a Prada thing going on, right? Perhaps it's no surprise that he was, reportedly, quite the fashion icon — according to his state-run websites, at least.
Smart-casual: Kim Jong-Il in his favourite anorak and grey slacks
4.11pm First The Only Way Is Essex, now it's the turn of another reality show, the
Republican Presidential Candidates, to wade in.
Mitt Romney, the sometimes frontrunner, said that Kim Jong-il "was a ruthless tyrant who lived a life of luxury while the North Korean people starved."
Jon Huntsman, another candidate (just about the only person in the race to have never been frontrunner), but the former Ambassador to China, so he knows the region well, said Kim was a "conscienceless tyrant... His death closes a tragic chapter for the people of North Korea and offers them the best opportunity to get on a path towards a more free and open society and political reform.
Rick Perry said Kim Jong-il's son,
Kim Jong-un was an "unknown quantity, and may not be able to mantain power".
4.03pm Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan leader, has become the latest leader to offer his "most sincere sympathies", calling Kim Jong-il a "comrade", and expressing his "confidence in the ability of Koreans to conduct their own future to prosperity and peace."
3.46pm As Hillary Clinton avoids talking about North Korea, a reminder that
her husband Bill met Kim Jong-il relatively recently - August 2009 - when he negotiated the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee from North Korea:
<noframe>Twitter: sarcastic_f - <a href="http://t.co/r3W4t7xh" target="_blank">http://t.co/r3W4t7xh</a> Fun photo of Kim Jong Il and Bill Clinton, who negotiated the release of Laura Ling & Euna Lee from North Korea</noframe>
Former US president Bill Clinton and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il pose for a picture in Pyongyang in this photo released by North Korean official news agency KCNA (2009)
3.40pm Aidan Foster-Carter, Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Sociology and Modern Korea, Leeds University,
writes for the Telegraph that "The sudden death of Kim Jong-il changes North Korea, in Donald Rumsfeld's useful phrase, from a known unknown to an unknown unknown."
Anything is now possible. The range of possible scenarios runs from benign to apocalyptic. The world wants North Korea to come in from the cold and embrace peace and reform. That seems unlikely, alas. The Kim regime is heavily invested in an avowed military-first policy, and in continuity – despite marching down a cul-de-sac. The mighty Korean People's Army (KPA), whose clout grew under Kim Jong-il, has much to lose from any outbreak of peace.
3.15pm Telegraph TV now has some video of
Hague's press conference in which he said he hoped the death of Kim could provide an opportunity for change on the Korean Peninsula, but said it would be "difficult to be optimistic about North Korea".
3.08pm North Korea were originally dubbed part of the '
Axis of Evil' by George W Bush. Their 'Axis' bedfellow, Iran, has now sent their condolences. Speaker Ali Larijani said he grieved the loss of the leader of the "friendly nation".
I was much saddened when I was informed of the passing of Mr Kim Jong-Il, great leader of the friendly nation, the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea
On behalf of myself and my colleagues in parliament... I would like to express my sympathy to your government and nation and offer my condolences to you and his family."
Nice to know who your friends are. Two of three 'Axis of Evil' leaders are now dead by the way - Saddam and Kim.
2.44pm Alexander von Rosenbach, Senior Analyst, Armed Forces, at IHS Jane's, an intelligence consultancy, says that both the North and South Korean militaries will be on high alert, especially along the
Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), which separates the two countries.
In the event of conflict sparking, North Korea would rely on numerical advantage in hopes over overwhelming the South. North Korea's equipment is old and it is unlikely that it is all in useable condition. Nevertheless, there is reason to fear its force of up to 13,500 artillery pieces, all of which are pointed across the border and protected from counter-attack. Additionally, the South Korean army is half the size of North Korea's million-man army, whose soldiers would be determined fighters despite being poorly trained and equipped.
The North also possesses three times as many submarines, which could be used to attack South Korean military or commercial shipping in contested waters or to stealthily deliver North Korean commandos to attack land-based targets behind the DMZ. On many occasions in the past, North Korea has proven that what it lacks in modern capability, it makes up for with creativity. While nuclear capabilities are often on the spotlight, it is their inventiveness and the sheer size of the military and traditional capabilities that are the bigger threat.
Thus, while the risk of North Korea launching a planned attack on the South is unlikely, the fact that both forces are anticipating threats could become a self-fulfilling prophecy, especially if the North's activities and intent become even more secretive during its leadership transition. However, more likely is a period of calm as the DPRK's military resolves its new internal power structures."
2.38pm Herman Van Rompuy,
the European Union's president, has called on North Korea's new leadership to preserve peace in the peninsula.
2.35pm Meanwhile, The Korean won has fallen to a two-month low against the dollar and the pound as a result of the uncertainty spreading through the region (it has nothing to do with The Only Way Is Essex so I believe). Richard Driver, an analyst at Caxton FX, sums up:
The approach that youngest son Kim Jong-un takes on foreign policy is the most immediate concern because the truth is, we know nothing about this character and how he will respond to his newfound power.
2.33pm The Only Way Is Essex is everywhere these days - the reality show has even managed to crowbar its way into Kim Jong-il coverage.
Jessica Wright, one of the show's stars - not known for her diplomatic commentary I hasten to add - caused a stir on Twitter this morning by saying Kim should "rest in peace". Her gaffe came after an appearance on Sky's
Sunrise breakfast show was scrapped to make room for coverage of Kim. She has since admitted she didn't know who he was according to
Digital Spy, and unfortunately has deleted the Tweet so I can't show you it. She has admitted her mistake though. Not before a Twitter backlash took place however.
2.30pm: William Hague, holding a press conference with his German counterpart
Guido Westerwelle, said he thought it would be "difficult" to be hopeful about any improvement in the country. Mr Westerwellve said he hoped his death would prove a "window of opportunity for the people of North Korea.
2.25pm Human RIghts Watch have said that governments should mark Kim's death with a clear demand that the new leader should "choose a path of reforming the country's abysmal human rights situation". Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch said:
Kim Jong-Il will be remembered as the brutal overseer of massive and systematic oppression that included a willingness to let his people starve.
When he assumes leadership, Kim Jong-Un should break with the past and put the human rights of North Koreans first, not last....
North Korea under Kim Jong-Il has been a human rights hell on earth. Kim Jong-Il ruled through fear generated by systematic and pervasive human rights abuses including arbitrary executions, torture, forced labor and strict limits on freedom of speech and association.
2.15pm Ed West, via his Telegraph blog,
points out that Kim Jong-il joins an illustrious group - the '69 club'. Kim joins Saddam Hussein and Col Gaddafi as another dictator to have snuffed it aged 69.
He also points out that Kim joins Osama Bin Laden and Gaddafi "at the end of what must be the busiest year for Hell's border authorities since 1945".
1.59pm The Catholic Church in South Korea has said it hopes the death of Kim Jong-il could increase the prospects of an eventual reunification on the peninsula. It has reiterated the oft-repeated line today that they hope it could be a "turning point".
1.44pm The Telegraph's Deputy Blogs Editor
Will Heaven has found a video in which an
Occupy Wall Street protester has defended the North Korean regime...
1.23pm As the US wakes up, the
State Department tweets that Barack Obama has talked with his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak:
<noframe>Twitter: StateDept - President Obama reaffirmed U.S. commitment to stability of Korean Peninsula and to security of South <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Korea" target="_blank">#Korea</a>. <a href="http://t.co/mRtrXAA4" target="_blank">http://t.co/mRtrXAA4</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=DPRK" target="_blank">#DPRK</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=ROK" target="_blank">#ROK</a></noframe>
1.15pm The AFP news agency has done a useful Question & Answer piece - one question that caught the eye in particular is
what will happen now? They say that Kim's body will lie in state in
Kumsusan palace where the embalmed body of his father - Kim Il-Sung, the founder and "eternal leader" of North Korea who died in 1994 - is on display.
After Kim's funeral on December 28, thoughts will turn to the succession but there are few details as to how it will be carried out. Kim Jong-Un's status as heir apparent was only made clear in September 2010.
Even Kim Jong-Il, who was openly groomed for the leadership and designated as successor some 14 years before his own father died, did not formally take over the leadership of the ruling party for three years afterwards.
12.55pm More on North Korea test-firing a
short-range missile off its east coast - South Korea's Yonhap news agency is quoting an unnamed government official as saying the missile launch was unrelated to the announcement that Kim had died.
The missile is believed to have a range of about 72 miles, he said.
12.45pm Amid the bizarre images of the day, here is the
South Korean cabinet holding an emergency meeting. They appear to be wearing yellow boiler suits. The South Korean president ordereded all government employees to be on emergency alert, a measure that would restrict their unauthorised leaves and put them on standby. Presumably that is where these dashing suits come in?
South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak presides over an emergency Cabinet meeting in Seoul
12.25pm Con Coughlin, The Telegraph's executive foreign editor, writes that Kim Jong-il's death
will destabilise an already unstable and nuclear-armed North Korea.
As is often the case in totalitarian states with no meaningful contact with the outside world, we can expect the authorities in Pyongyang to be gripped bv intense paranoia as they attempt a seamless transition of power. Any false move by one of North Korea's many perceived enemies could have the regime reaching for the panic button, which is never a reassuring thought when you are dealing with an inherently unstable country that also happens to be armed with nuclear weapons.
12.22pm Burma, who are in the midst of their own political transition right now, but aren't exactly bastions of democracy, has said they believe "things can change" in North Korea after Kim's death.
Myanmar will convey its condolences over the demise of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.
We do not know much about his successor, his son. But we think things can change in his term, especially their economic policy.
12.20pm Telegraph TV has a video on the life and times of Kim Jong-il:
12.17pm Professor Steve Tsang, director of the China Policy Institute at the University of Nottingham, who specialises in East Asian political and security issues.
The death of Kim Jong-il represents a real opportunity for the United States to seize the initiative to secure long-term stability on the Korean Peninsula.
At present, as the North Korean leadership debates internally over which direction the country will take, the reclusive state has two options: maintain the status quo or embrace the Chinese model of economic reform.
The US must ensure Pyongyang has a third option to consider: that the US and South Korea will provide support and subsidies to help North Korea develop and modernise in return for the abandonment of its nuclear weapons programme.”
11.54am It is worth noting that rumours about Kim Jong-il's health have persisted for years.
The Times reported back in 2008 that an image of Mr Kim, posing with the North Korean army, was a fake. In the photo, the shadow cast by his calves ran a different direction from that of the soldiers on either side of him, while a black line running along the strand on which the soldiers were position disappeared when it got to Kim.
Questions have been asked as to whether Kim Jong-il has been photoshopped into this photograph of a parade of troops
<noframe>Twitter: Sam Robinson - I wonder whether they're still going to photoshop Kim Jong-Il into strange locations now he's dead?</noframe>
11.40am The Telegraph's
Richard Alleyne, who is camped outside
North Korea's London embassy, in Ealing, says not too much activity outside, but South Korean television have apparently got very excited a man who brought flowers. They think he looks like the late leader and are checking to see if he is a relative. As far the emabssy itself goes, Richard writes:
All quiet at the People's republic of north acton. Only one mourner all morning and no one is answering the door.
The embassy is an Edwardian house along an ordinary suburban street in west London. The only evidence that it is an embassy is a plaque on the door and a wood carving of a hydro electric plant. Black Mercedes are parked in the drive and in the back garden there is a basketball hoop.
The North Korea Embassy in West London
11.36am Korean Central News Agency says
a National Funeral Committee has been formed. Kim Jong-un, unsurprisingly, is at the top of the list. His funeral, by the way, is due to take place on
December 28.
11.27am Breaking on Reuters: North Korea test fired a short-range missile this morning. Most likely to let the world know that things are not going to change.
11.23am More on Team America trending worldwide -
Andrew Hough has had a look at the 2004 film, which grossed more than $50 million (£32 million).
It depicts Jong-il as an evil dictator attempting to conquer the world while openly mocking his limited English. He was featured as a singing dictator who was lonely – or “ronrey” – while living in his large opulent palace.
Stone, 40, and Parker, 42, also wrote the screenplay and supplied voices of many of the characters to the cult movie. Parker voiced Kim’s voice. Neither have commented about the death.
11.17am Another question raised by Kim's death is
what happens to the country's nuclear weapons stockpile.
The Telegraph's Damien McElroy writes:
What is sure is that the country presents a greater proliferation danger than any other on the planet.
North Korea was the key source of the material sold by Abdul Qadeer Khan to Iran, Libya and Syria. It is believed to be continuing its assistance to Iran.
An explosion at a military facility in Iran 10 days ago was reported to have killed several North Korean engineers.
11.15am Former Japanese prime minister
Junichiro Koizumi, one of the few "developed-nation" leaders ever to have had direct talks with Kim, said he was a "straight talker". Mr Koizumi visited Kim in 2002 and 2004. He said his death was "unfortunate" and might represent a lost opportunity to reintegrate Pyongyang with the outside world.
What I remember from the talks is that, rather than the dark image that one might have of a dictator, he was very upbeat and directly spoke his mind.
It's unfortunate because I wished the path toward normalised relations (between Japan and North Korea) would have been paved while General Secretary Kim was still well, after having resolved the abduction, nuclear and missile problems.
11.13am The German government has said the death of Kim offers a "chance" for positive change, much like Britain and France before them.
This is of course a chance for things to change there but our expectations remain the same: that North Korea gives up its nuclear programme, that the catastrophic social situation of its own people improves and that it declares itself ready to open up in the political and economic spheres.
11.10am Some more on Kim's
greatest 'achievements' from The Telegraph's Julian Ryall. Clearly destined for greatness from an early age - he was learning to walk aged three weeks.
At junior high school in Pyongyang, he corrected and chastised his teachers for incorrectly interpreting history with images of teachers bowed before the future leader of the nation – already a little on the paunchy side.
Moving on to higher education, he found time to write 1,500 books during his three years at Kim Il-sung University, from where he graduated in 1964, and penned six full operas in two years – "all of which are better than any in the history of music," his biography gushes.
Turning his hand to major architectural feats, he designed the Tower of the Juche Idea, a 170-metre-tall monolith on the east bank of the Taedong River in Pyongyang that is topped by a glowing red flame.
10.55 Tim Shipman, The Daily Mail's Deputy Political Editor,
Tweets about one of Kim's more outlandish habits:
<noframe>Twitter: Tim Shipman (Mail) - Kim Jong-Il wasn't all bad. He sank $700K of cognac each year. In a country where ave income was $900. Ok, he was bad. <a href="http://t.co/kJqIMyE1" target="_blank">http://t.co/kJqIMyE1</a></noframe>
10.54am Mike Chinoy, a former CNN Correspondent, with 15 visits to North Korea, and the author of 'Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis, has spoken about the short-term consequences of Kim's death:
In the short run, the system is going to continue more or less as-is… The deeper questions come over the long term, in the sense that Kim Jong-un is very young, he’s still quite inexperienced, not very much is known about him, and so there are lots of questions about what he’s going to do. Will he be able to consolidate his power, will he be essentially a figurehead?
10.50am It is worth remembering, that amid all the jokes, Team America references and bizarre facts,
an estimated two million people have died since the 1990s due to food shortages triggered by economic mismanagement and natural disasters.
An estimated one-third of all children in North Korea are stunted by malnutrition caused by ongoing food shortages, according to the UN children's fund. Guido Fawkes
has posted a very powerful picture on his blog.
4 June 2003: Kim Jong-il inspects a farm run by Korean People's Army unit 534 in North Korea
10.43am Telegraph TV has picked up local television footage
showing North Korean officials apparently overcome with grief at the news of their leader's death.
10.39am Julian Ryall has broken down Kim Jong-il's various relationships over the years. Kim,
perhaps an unlikely sex symbol, had long-term relationships with at least seven women and fathered four children apparently. It all stems from his stepmother.
He has spoken to
Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor at Tokyo's Waseda University and author of numerous books on the North Korean leadership:
He had problems with his new mother when he was growing up and that coloured his relationships with women when he was older...
But we also have to remember that the situation in North Korea is unlike anywhere else in the modern world. This is a dynasty with a king at the top; he could do exactly what he wanted."
10.28am If ever there was a picture to highlight the difference between both Koreas, then surely this is it -
satellite picture at night. Note how one side is lit up, the other... is not.
A satellite image of the Korean peninsula illustrated with the outline of North Korea
10.20am Konstantin Pulikovskiy,
the Kremlin's former special representative in the far East, has spoken about when he met Kim Jong-il, both pre- and post-stroke. For his money, he does not see any regime change on the horizon:
I saw Kim Jong-il before his stroke, I was travelling with him, and at the time he did not have any health problems. I saw him after the stroke and it was like night and day. I think that the main reason for his death was precisely the consequences of his stroke...
It seems that there will not be any upheaval in North Korea in the short term. Kim Jong-il managed to do everything to preserve his regime by appointing his son as his heir.
10.18am France has become the latest country to react to Kim Jong-il's death. Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, has echoed William Hague's sentiment:
We are very watchful of the consequences of this succession, hoping that one day the people of North Korea will be able to find freedom.
10.13am Telegraph Pictures
has compiled a picture gallery of how North Korea is coping with the death of the 'Dear Leader'. It starts with the newreader, wearing black breaking down in tears. Street reaction is not much better.
Pyongyang residents mourn the death of leader Kim Jong-il
9.44am The Telegraph's Obituaries team
have compiled a fascinating read about the Dear Leader. On the one hand, he was a spoiled playboy, with a passion for Rambo and Daffy Duck videos, but on the other, he developed an all-pervasive personality cult, shielded the whole country from the rest of the world, and held on to power for nearly five decades:
Kim il Sung had maintained his grip on power through "Juche" – a philosophy based on an eccentric blend of Stalinist repression, an all-pervasive personality cult, total isolation from the outside world and paranoid hostility towards South Korea and its capitalist allies. Over nearly five decades in power he had reduced his country to a destitute fortress-state with a standing army of 1.2 million out of a population of some 20 million. The combination of barbarism, isolation and eccentricity was an Orwellian nightmare beside which Enver Hoxha's Albania seemed a bastion of liberal enlightenment.
9.40am Telegraph TV has more video on hysterical grieving in North Korea. It begs the question, how do you react when your 'god' dies?
9.22am Aiden Foster-Carter, a British expert on North Korea, has spoken about Kim Jong-un, the 'great successor', and his complete lack of experience.
Kim Jong-un is completely untried, indeed he has been plunged into this, with only two years to prepare.
So far we have no reason to think he has the abilities to exercise power in his own right.
The military make look at this callow youth and say ok we can use him as a figurehead or it may go the other way and we get a full military regime, a ruling council. The party had rather atrophied under Kim Jong-il until it came together to back Kim Jong-un for the leadership.
There may be some rivalries there that would help him. So it's a question of whether he will go with the grain or decide to be bold and open up to the international community.
9.14am Kim Jong-il is predictably trending on
Twitter. At the moment, the UK's top 10 trends include: "Kim Jong", "Team America", "North Korea" and "Dear Leader".
Kate Forbes, from BBC news writes:
<noframe>Twitter: Kate Forbes - Sly are using Team America footage of Kim Jong intercut with starving children in North Korea. It's strangely rather powerful</noframe>
9.10am The lineage of North Korea's first family is convoluted and confused,
with siblings rising and falling in favour with the politics of the day.
The Telegraph's Julian Ryall breaks down Kim Jong-il's nearest and dearest.
Kim Jong-il reportedly began an affair with actress Song Hye-rim in 1968 who gave birth three years later to Kim Jong-nam - which was kept secret from Kim Jong-Il until 1975. After learning of his son, Kim Jong-il began to groom him for a future leadership role - although that came to an abrupt end in May 2001 when he was arrested trying to enter Japan on a forged Dominican Republic passport with two women and a boy aged 4. He told Japanese polce that he wanted to visit Disneyland and there are reports that he was a frequent visitor to the red light districts of Tokyo.
Using the Chinese alias Pang Xiong, which can be read as "fat bear," Kim Jong-nam's arrest was humiliating for his father, who was forced to cancel a state visit to China.
Kim Jong-Nam reportedly has two wives, at least one mistress and several children and continues to live in exile in Macau. His son, Han-sol, is believed to have been born in 1995 to his second wife, Lee Hye-Kyong, and recently enrolled at the United World College in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzogovina.
Kim Jong-Il's next companion was Ko Young-hee, who was a dancer born in Osaka in 1953 and the mother of Kim Jong-chul, a member of the central committee of the party, a daughter, Kim Sul-song, and Kim Jong-un, who has been given the task of continuing the family regime.
9.04am For those of you who might not remember what I was talking about regarding
Team America (8.10am), please watch this musical masterpiece. Say what you like about South Park's creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, but they know how to create a catchy tune - Mormons can testify.
8.42am Benedict Brogan,
The Daily Telegraph's Deputy Editor, comments that Kim Jong-il's death adds a "whole new element of instability to our already shaky world" in his
Morning briefing.
When Kim Jong-il, the North Korean dictator, was born, “a bright star lit up the sky, the seasons spontaneously changed from winter to spring, and rainbows appeared” (according to the North Korean Communist Party).
So far, his death early this morning hasn’t produced any of that, but it does add a whole new element of instability to our already shaky world. William Hague has issued a carefully worded statement...
South Korea has put its military on alert, while Kim Jong-un, the dictator's 28 year old son, has been promoted. The death is likely to dominate the news agenda.
8.37am We will be monitoring North Korea's little-known London embassy for reaction. While a lot of embassies have the pick of real estate in Kensington and Knightsbridge,
North Korea's is a little more understated, a former seven-bedroom house built in the 1920s in Ealing, West London. Nick Meo from the Sunday Telegraph, wrote a fascinating piece back in 2009.
Converted from a seven-bedroom house built in the 1920s, the embassy is a far cry from the opulent Mayfair and Kensington mansions that make up most of London's foreign diplomatic missions. When it first opened in 2003, it was plunged straight into a bitter planning dispute with Ealing Council, which objected to its grandiose portico entrance with pillars.
But in contrast with Pyongyang's hostile relations with Japan and South Korea, it maintains a good neighbours policy when it comes to fellow occupants of Gunnersbury Avenue.
"The ambassador is a lovely chap, very friendly," said a man living next door. He claimed that people in the neighbourhood were untroubled by having in their midst the outpost of a nation notorious for slave labour camps and weapons of mass destruction.
8.30am And for those of you wanting a reminder about his father,
look no further than Julian Ryall's profile of Kim Jong-il. Kim was clearly destined for greatness from an early age. He was apparently talking at eight weeks old, wrote six operas and once hit a 38-under-par during his first ever round of golf.
Kim led a privileged life after the war as North Korea made use of its natural resources and received assistance from Moscow and, later, Beijing while the United States increased its commitment to the government in South Korea.
The cult of personality that was built up around his father was equally heaped upon Kim as he was groomed to be the first dynastic successor of a communist regime.
8.28am Kim Jong-un the 'great successor', will be thrown into the spotlight more than ever before. For those of you who want to know more about him,
The Telegraph's Danielle Demetriou has done a handy guide. He has been dubbed a style guru thanks to his haircut, which has been labelled the "youth" or "ambition" cut, and he is apparently a massive Michael Jordan fan.
8.10am He may have been a dangerous dictator, but to many younger readers, Kim Jong-il was a widely mocked figure, perhaps best remembered for his star turn in Team America, by the creators of South Park.
Kim Jong-il in Team America
8am William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, has released a statement on Kim Kong-il's death:
The people of N Korea are in official mourning after the death of Kim Jong Il. We understand this is a difficult time for them.
This could be a turning point for North Korea. We hope that their new leadership will recognise that engagement with the international community offers the best prospect of improving the lives of ordinary North Korean people.
We encourage North Korea to work for peace and security in the region and take the steps necessary to allow the resumption of the Six Party Talks on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.
7.57am In the wake of the Dear Leader's death,
this video is going somewhat viral on YouTube. It has been viewed as of now 142,800+ times. Fact number 10: He once attempted to breet giant rabbits to alleviate famine in North Korea. Fact number nine - he claimed to have invented the hamburger... you get the idea.
7.40am Telegraph TV has found some video footage of the aforementioned tearful TV presenter (see 6.55am) announcing Kim Jong-il's death.
The announcer said that the 69-year old had died of physical and mental over-work on his way to give "field guidance".
"I'm announcing in the most woeful mind that our great leader Kim Jong-il passed away due to sudden illness on his way to a field guidance on December 17, 2011," said the news presenter.
7.30am Whilst most of the 24 million North Koreans will be genuinely distraught by the death of the 'Dear Leader', the end of Kim Jong-il's tyrannical reign
has increased the chill of uncertainty across the region. The Telegraph's Peter Simpson writes:
Kim's regular war and mind games, which saw on one hand overtures towards denuclearisation negotiations, and on the other random torpedoing of submarines and artillery bombardments of the South, regularly put Beijing, the Korean peninsular and Tokyo on red alert.
Yet the leadership acumen of his hereditary successor Kim Jong-Un, his 20-something youngest son, as "supreme leader" and a four-star general, is today causing equally grave concern among Pyongyang’s neighbours and in Washington.
Will the young Kim seek to show off to his new and expectant subjects the same verve and might of his father by launching a symbolic military strike against the “US imperialist-led” South?
7.25am Little is known about the 'Great Successor' Kim Jong-un, but al-Jazeera last year posted some footage of his formative years - what is believed to be a young Kim at school in Switzerland.
7.10am China, North Korea's regional neighbour, has become the latest country to offer its "deep condolences" on the death of Kim.
We were distressed to learn of the unfortunate passing of the senior-most North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, and we express our grief about this and extend our condolences to the people of North Korea.
7.06am Philip J Crowley, the former
US State Department spokesman, has give some snap analysis for the future of North Korea via Twitter, putting a dampner who those who think his death might trigger an Arab-Spring-style sweep of reform:
<noframe>Twitter: Philip J. Crowley - If <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=NorthKorea" target="_blank">#NorthKorea</a> were a normal country, the death of <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=KimJongIl" target="_blank">#KimJongIl</a> might open the door to a <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=PyongyangSpring" target="_blank">#PyongyangSpring</a>. But it is not a normal country.</noframe>
6.55am Here is a picture of the tearful news reader dressed in black as she announces the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on North Korean state television.
6.50am Japan has
expressed its condolences over the death of Kim Jong-il. The Telegraph's
Julian Ryall files this report:
The Japanese government expressed its condolences on Monday over the death of Kim Jong-il, the leader of North Korea, but simultaneously told officials to be prepared for potential instability.
"We express our condolences upon receiving the announcement of the sudden passing of Kim Jong-Il, the chairman of the National Defence Committee of North Korea," Osamu Fujimura, the chief government spokesman, said after an emergency meeting of the National Security Council.
"The Japanese government hopes that this unexpected development will not have any adverse impact on the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula," he added.
Yoshihiko Noda, the prime minister, cancelled a speaking engagement on Monday morning and has instructed government officials to be prepared for all possible contingencies.
Monitoring of the situation in North Korea has also been stepped up and officials have been to stay in close contact with their counterparts in the United States, South Korea and China.
Kim's death has apparently caught analysts off-guard, with Masashi Nishihara, president of the Research Institute for Peace and Security, saying it had been believed that the North Korean leader had been recovering after a serious illness - believed to have been a stroke - three years ago.
6.30am Japan has held a hastily prepared ministerial meeting on national security. Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said:
We hope this sudden event does not have an adverse effect on the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula.
Prime Minister (Yoshihiko) Noda told members of the security meeting to strengthen information gathering efforts, work closely and share information with relevant states including the United States, South Korea and China, and to prepare for any unexpected circumstances. The government hopes to take appropriate action as needed.
6.25am UPDATED Obama and South Korea's Lee have discussed Kim Jong-Il's death, White House sources have said. Earlier this morning, a White House spokesman said the US was "closely monitoring" reports that Kim Jong-il had died.
6.15am North Korea has described Kim's youngest son as the "great successor"
6am Here is a
profile of Kim Jong-un from The Telegraph's
Malcolm Moore. Kim Jong-un is expected to succeed his late father.
Such is the secrecy of North Korea, the Hermit Kingdom, that until he was 20-years-old, no one even knew that Kim Jong-un existed.
The first mention of Kim Jong-il's third, and favourite, son, came in the memoirs of a Japanese sushi chef who claims he became a drinking companion of North Korea's "Dear Leader".
Kim Jong-un was born to his father's third wife, Ko Yong-Hi, who reportedly died of breast cancer in 2004.
The only photograph of the younger Kim, who is likely to succeed his father imminently, is a grainy black-and-white snapshot taken when he was 11-years-old.
5.50am North Korea has urged its 24 million people to rally behind 20-something heir-apparent
Kim Jong-un as the nation mourned the death of supreme leader Kim Jong-il.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (L) and his son and designated heir Kim Jong-un
5.30am Oil slipped has slipped below $93 a barrel in Asia as crude followed the region's stock markets lower after North Korea announced the death of leader Kim Jong-il.
Benchmark crude for January delivery was down 78 cents to $92.75 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 34 cents to settle at $93.53 on Friday.
In London, Brent crude was down 45 cents at $102.90 on the ICE futures exchange.
5.15am Here is
a gallery of the life and times of Kim Jong-il.
5am UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was among world leaders put on alert Sunday over the death of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il, officials said.
The United Nations has been desperately trying to raise international funds to provide food for North Korea. It appealed for $218 million dollars this year but less than 20 percent has been raised.
Ban, who is from South Korea, has in turn regularly expressed concern at the deadlock in international talks on the North's nuclear arms program. He said last week that the mood on the Korean peninsula was almost "frozen".
UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told AFP:
The secretary general is aware but of the reports but we don't have an immediate reaction.
4.50am South Korea has ordered its military on emergency alert and increased border air surveillance after North Korea announced the death of its leader Kim Jong-il, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
Seoul also asked its US ally, which stations 28,500 troops in the South, to step up surveillance by planes and satellites, a JCS spokesman said.
No unusual activity had been observed from the North, officials said.
President Lee Myung-bak ordered all government officials on emergency response status, meaning they are restricted from taking leave or travelling.
The North's state media, in a shock announcement, reported earlier Monday that the 69-year-old Kim died of a heart attack Saturday while on board a train during one of his field trips.
TV news report the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il at a Labi Yamada Denki Co. retailer in Tokyo, Japan AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama
4.45am Our man in China
Peter Simpson files this report on
the death of the "Dear Leader".
The mercurial and enigmatic longtime leader who ran his nation with an iron rod was 69.
The state-TV announcer, wearing black and fighting back tears, made the emotional announcement on state-run television.
She said Kim died “of fatigue” while on a train.
His youngest son, Kim Jong-un, is likely to be appointed leader to continue the family dynasty that has administrated a tyrannical government since the end of the Korean War.
4.30am North Korea's Kim Jong-il has reportedle died from "a massive heart attack" while travelling on a train in Pyongyang, state media have said. The military dictator, who was 69, apparently died on Saturday but news of his death was announced early Monday morning.
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