Kim Jong Il is dead.
Add him to the list of Osama Bin Laden and Muammar Ghaddafi as another one of the 20th Centurys all-time bad guys who won't make it very far into the 21st Century.
Kim Jong Il was actually kind of a putz who was in over his head.
It was his father, Kim Il Sung, who was the true evil madman.
Kim Il Sung ruled North Korea like he was Joseph Stalin.
I remember that I was actually in South Korea when Kim Il Sung died in 1994. It caused total fear and chaos. The South Koreans were afraid of a power vacuum. Air raid sirens were going off. People couldn't stop talking about it.
Sure, Kim Il Sung had been the devil, but he was the devil they knew.
There is now talk that the son of Kim Jong Il is too young and too incompetent to take control of the country. That wouldn't surprise me. These "inherited" transfers of power have never been a good idea. There is no merit involved.
I'm hoping this will situation will finally cause North Korea to collapse and lead to a reunification with the South.
