Kim Jong Il Was Dead

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il died on Monday. He was 69 (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).

Kim's death was announced Monday by state television from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

Kim is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008 but appeared relatively vigorous in photos and video from recent trips to China and Russia and in numerous trips around the country carefully documented by state media.

The leader, reputed to have had a taste for cigars, cognac and gourmet cuisine, was believed to have had diabetes and heart disease.

The news came as North Korea prepared for a hereditary succession. Kim Jong Il inherited power after his father, revered North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, died in 1994.

Kim Jong Il Was Dead

In September 2010, Kim Jong Il unveiled his third son, the twenty-something Kim Jong Un, as his successor, putting him in high-ranking posts.

Maybe the great medical care in North Korea had something to do with his death at a relatively young age.

Unfortunately, it is unlikely that much will change in North Korea. It is likely to remain a regime that represses its own people, proliferates nuclear weapons, and promotes strife around the world.