19 December 2011 Last updated at 07:53 ET


N Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies


The BBC's Lucy Williamson says news of the death has taken people by surprise

Kim Jong-il dead


North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has died of a heart attack at the age of 69, state media have announced.

Millions of North Koreans were "engulfed in indescribable sadness", the KCNA state news agency said, as people wept openly in Pyongyang.

KNCA described one of his sons, Kim Jong-un, as the "great successor" whom North Koreans should unite behind.

Pyongyang's neighbours are on alert amid fears of instability in the poor and isolated nuclear-armed nation.
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“Start Quote

This could be a turning point for North Korea”

William Hague UK Foreign Minister

World reaction
Death triggers swift reaction

Fears were compounded by unconfirmed reports from South Korean news agency Yonhap that the North had test-fired a missile off its eastern coast before the announcement of Kim Jong-il's death was made.

Unnamed government officials in Seoul were quoted as saying they did not believe the launch was linked to the announcement. The South Korean defence ministry has declined to comment.

Following news of Mr Kim's death, South Korea put its armed forces on high alert and said the country was on a crisis footing. Japan's government convened a special security meeting.

China - North Korea's closest ally and biggest trading partner - expressed shock at the news of his death and pledged to continue making "active contributions to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in this region".

Asian stock markets fell after the news was announced.
Crying aloud

Mr Kim's death was announced in an emotional statement on national television.
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Analysis
image of Lucy Williamson Lucy Williamson BBC News, Seoul

North Korea has shocked the world by announcing that its leader has died.

Kim Jong-il had been presented to his people as a father-figure and demi-god - all-powerful and benevolent. But his tight control of the country, and his creation of a nuclear arsenal, has meant his death has caused political shockwaves around the region too.

His presumed successor, Kim Jong-un, is largely unknown outside the secretive state, and countries throughout the region are watching closely for any instability in the transition of power.

The announcer, wearing black, struggled to keep back the tears as she said he had died of physical and mental over-work.

The KCNA later reported that he had died of a "severe myocardial infarction along with a heart attack" at 08:30 local time on Saturday (23:30 GMT Friday).

He had been on a train at the time, for one of his "field guidance" tours, KCNA said.

The state news agency said a funeral would be held in Pyongyang on 28 December and Kim Jong-un would head the funeral committee. A period of national mourning has been declared from 17 to 29 December.

Images from inside the secretive state showed people in the streets of Pyongyang weeping at the news of his death.

Ruling party members in one North Korean county were shown by state TV banging tables and crying out loud, the AFP news agency reports.

"I can't believe it," a party member named as Kang Tae-Ho was quoted as saying. "How can he go like this? What are we supposed to do?"

Another, Hong Sun-Ok, said: "He tried so hard to make our lives much better and he just left like this."

KCNA said people were "convulsing with pain and despair" at their loss, but would unite behind his successor Kim Jong-un.

North Korea
Kim Jong-il (file image)

Population about 23 million
One million-strong army thought to be world's fifth largest
Manufacturing output mainly geared to military's demands
All aspects of daily life strictly controlled by government
Daily food shortages; acute power cuts and poor infrastructure

Guide to North Korea
Country where pavements are washed by hand
Life inside the North Korean bubble

"All party members, military men and the public should faithfully follow the leadership of comrade Kim Jong-un and protect and further strengthen the unified front of the party, military and the public," the news agency said.

Little is known about Kim Jong-un. He was educated in Switzerland, is aged in his late 20s and is believed to be Kim Jong-il's third son - born to Mr Kim's reportedly favourite wife, the late Ko Yong-hui.

Kim Jong-un was unveiled as his father's likely successor just over a year ago. Many had expected to see this process further consolidated in 2012.
'Turning point'

South Korea - which remains technically at war with the north - urged people to "go about their usual economic activities" on Monday, while putting the military on alert.

President Lee Myung-Bak spoke to US President Barack Obama by telephone and they "agreed to closely co-operate and monitor the situation together", a South Korean presidential spokesman said.

Reaction from Washington was muted, with the White House saying it was "closely monitoring" reports of the death.

The US remained "committed to stability on the Korean peninsula, and to the freedom and security of our allies", it said in a statement.

China said it was "distressed" to hear the news of his death. "We express our grief about this and extend our condolences to the people of North Korea," foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.
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Analysis
Donald Gregg Former US ambassador to South Korea

Kim Jong-il's death should not have come as a complete surprise to anyone, given his tenuous health.

But it is safe to say that the North Koreans would have very much preferred that he lived one more year, so that in 2012, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, his father, Kim Jong-il would have been on hand to pay homage to "the Great Leader".

Now that lot will fall to Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il's youngest son who has been put forward as the natural and fully prepared successor to his father.

Will Kim's death aid ties with US?

Analysts say that with the process of transition from father to son incomplete, Mr Kim's death could herald "very unstable times" in North Korea.

"We have to be very worried because whenever there is domestic instability North Korea likes to find an external situation to divert the attention away from that - including indulging in provocation," Professor Lee Jung-hoon, specialising in international relations at Yonsei University in Seoul, told the BBC.

Christopher Hill, former US representative to the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programme, said all parties needed to "keep cool heads".

Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague said it could be a "turning point" for North Korea to engage more closely with the international community.

Kim Jong-il inherited the leadership of North Korea from his father Kim Il-sung.

Shortly after he came to power in 1994, a severe famine caused by ill-judged economic reforms and poor harvests left an estimated two million people dead.

His regime has been harshly criticised for human rights abuses and is internationally isolated because of its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Under Mr Kim's leadership, funds have been channelled to the military and in 2006 North Korea conducted its first nuclear test. It followed that up with a second one three years later. Multinational talks aimed at disarming North Korea have been deadlocked for months.

He had reportedly been in poor health since suffering a stroke in August 2008.

The Rise of Kim Jong-Un

What we don't know about the Dear Leader's possible successor.

BY KEN E. GAUSE | APRIL 29, 2009

Figuring out just who will rule North Korea when Kim Jong Il exits the scene has become something of a global parlor game.

In January 2009, the South Korean news agency, Yonhap, reported that Kim Jong Il's third and youngest son, Kim Jong-un, had been nominated to succeed his father around Jan. 8, the younger Kim's birthday. Although there was no corroborating information from the North Korean media (and there still is none), Yonhap's articles cited sources with close ties to the North Korean leadership. Then in April, Yonhap reported that Kim Jong-un had been appointed to the National Defense Commission (NDC) in an unnamed capacity. Whether any of this is true is debatable, but for those of us who read the tea leaves in Pyongyang for a living, the growing focus on the third son as the successor appears to be reaching a critical mass.

The South Korean and Japanese media began reporting on Kim Jong-un in 2003 and have done so sporadically ever since. Focused on the succession issue, their reports tend to be highly speculative and often contradictory.

According to Kim Jong Il's former personal chef, Kim Jong-un was born in 1983 or 1984 to Kim's third wife, Ko Hyong-hui, and is allegedly his father's favorite son. Unlike his brother Kim Jong-chol, Kim Jong-un has a more forthright character and, some sources say, has exhibited leadership skills. He is rumored to have studied at the International School of Berne in Guemligen, Switzerland. Upon returning to North Korea sometime after 2000, his studies continued, most likely at Kim Il Sung Military University. There are varying reports that he speaks German, French, and English.

Kim Jong-un's career background has been just as opaque. In 2004, reports began to surface that he and brother Kim Jong-chol were accompanying their father on inspections of military installations. In 2007, a flurry of reports emerged placing the third son in either the Korean Workers' Party's (KWP's) powerful Organization Guidance Department, where Kim Jong Il began his career in 1964, or the Korean People's Army's influential General Political Bureau. Both of these bodies are charged with surveillance and monitoring of the regime's powerful party, military, and security bodies.

There are also reports that Kim Jong-un may share some of the ailments of his father, such as diabetes, and might have been in a car accident last year. Therefore, his health is in question.

In the months after Kim Jong Il's apparent stroke in August 2008, the South Korean media began to speculate on succession. According to their articles, Kim Jong-un had the support of his father's current wife, Kim Ok, and the first vice director of the Organization Guidance Department, Yi Je-kang. Kim Jong Il's brother-in-law, Jang Song-taek (who is married to Kim's sister, Kim Kyong-hui), was rumored to be the key backer of Kim's oldest son, Kim Jong-nam, who has spent most of his time outside North Korea since he was caught in 2001 by Japanese officials while to trying sneak into Japan on a false passport.

In February 2009, Yonhap reported that Jang (director of the KWP's Administrative Department, which oversees much of North Korea's security apparatus) had shifted his support to Kim Jong-un in light of Kim Jong Il's special affection for his third son and out of consideration for his own future political power. According to senior North Korean defectors in South Korea, Jang reached a deal with Kim Jong Il. Worried about being purged, as he was in 2004 for becoming too powerful within the regime, Jang agreed to throw his support behind Kim Jong-un. In return, Kim Jong Il has allowed Jang to engineer the succession by placing his allies in key posts throughout the regime. Many of the recent key appointments allegedly have Jang's backing. The new chief of the general staff, Yi Yong-ho, is allegedly close to Jang, as is the new minister of the People's Armed Forces.

The development of a collective leadership centered on Jang appears to have emerged out of the recent meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly. Some analysts point to the NDC, of which Kim Jong-un is now reportedly a member, as the platform through which the succession will be carried out, much as the KWP was Kim Jong Il's platform. In addition to Jang, the NDC is now populated with powerful military and security officials with ties to Jang, including vice chairmen Kim Yong-jun and O Kuk-yol and members Chu Sang-song (minister of public security) and U Tong-juk (deputy director of the State Security Department). Many think this collective leadership, which probably extends beyond the NDC to the party as well, will provide the support network for a dynastic succession. In this scenario, Kim Jong-un would be the public face of North Korea, while Jang led behind the scenes.

When the succession will be made public is a critical question. Some Pyongyang watchers speculate that it will be attached to an auspicious date in North Korean history. Many point to April 2012, which would mark the 100th anniversary of Kim Il Sung's birth. Of course, the health of Kim Jong Il, which has appeared to worsen in recent months, will probably drive the timing of this announcement.

What would the post-Kim Jong Il era mean for the stability of North Korea? Although few experts foresee a collapse of the regime, many wonder whether the senior leadership will hold together or fall prey to factionalism. Jang's agreement to support Kim Jong-un apparently unifies the key individuals within the regime. For this reason, many Pyongyang watchers think the succession is already a done deal.

Whether this governing structure will last is a big question. North Korea, after all, does not have a history of collective leadership. If the reports to date are accurate, it makes sense that Kim Jong Il has tried to build the collective leadership around someone within his family. But, forecasting on what will happen after Kim Jong Il is highly speculative. Whether Jang will continue to support Kim Jong-un, shift his allegiance back to Kim Jong-nam, or move to take the leadership mantle for himself, which could lead to an outright power struggle, is anyone's guess. Rest assured, we'll be watching closely.

This would be a great lift of change for the North Koreans. If there is no Kim, then who else would they put their beliefs into? It's such a big change to get accustomed to, especially if they were brainwashed by the late Kim.

A Nation of Racist Dwarfs

Kim Jong-il's regime is even weirder and more despicable than you thought.

By Christopher Hitchens|Posted Monday, Feb. 1, 2010, at 10:01 AM ET
The Cleanest Race by B. R. Myers.

Visiting North Korea some years ago, I was lucky to have a fairly genial "minder" whom I'll call Mr. Chae. He guided me patiently around the ruined and starving country, explaining things away by means of a sort of denial mechanism and never seeming to lose interest in the gargantuan monuments to the world's most hysterical and operatic leader-cult. One evening, as we tried to dine on some gristly bits of duck, he 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. Not for Mr. Chae the charm of the ethnic mosaic, but rather a rigid and unpolluted uniformity.

I was struck at the time by how matter-of-factly he said this, as if he took it for granted that I would find it uncontroversial. And I did briefly wonder whether this form of totalitarianism, too (because nothing is more "total" than racist nationalism), was part of the pitch made to its subjects by the North Korean state. But I was preoccupied, as are most of the country's few visitors, by the more imposing and exotic forms of totalitarianism on offer: by the giant mausoleums and parades that seemed to fuse classical Stalinism with a contorted form of the deferential, patriarchal Confucian ethos.


Karl Marx in his Eighteenth Brumaire wrote that those trying to master a new language always begin by translating it back into the tongue they already know. And I was limiting myself (and ill-serving my readers) in using the pre-existing imagery of Stalinism and Eastern deference. I have recently donned the bifocals provided by B.R. Myers in his electrifying new book The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves and Why It Matters, and I understand now that I got the picture either upside down or inside out. The whole idea of communism is dead in North Korea, and its most recent "Constitution," "ratified" last April, has dropped all mention of the word. The analogies to Confucianism are glib, and such parallels with it as can be drawn are intended by the regime only for the consumption of outsiders. Myers makes a persuasive case that we should instead regard the Kim Jong-il system as a phenomenon of the very extreme and pathological right. It is based on totalitarian "military first" mobilization, is maintained by slave labor, and instills an ideology of the most unapologetic racism and xenophobia.

These conclusions of his, in a finely argued and brilliantly written book, carry the worrisome implication that the propaganda of the regime may actually mean exactly what it says, which in turn would mean that peace and disarmament negotiations with it are a waste of time—and perhaps a dangerous waste at that.

Consider: Even in the days of communism, there were reports from Eastern Bloc and Cuban diplomats about the paranoid character of the system (which had no concept of deterrence and told its own people that it had signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty in bad faith) and also about its intense hatred of foreigners. A black Cuban diplomat was almost lynched when he tried to show his family the sights of Pyongyang. North Korean women who return pregnant from China—the regime's main ally and protector—are forced to submit to abortions. Wall posters and banners depicting all Japanese as barbarians are only equaled by the ways in which Americans are caricatured as hook-nosed monsters. (The illustrations in this book are an education in themselves.) The United States and its partners make up in aid for the huge shortfall in North Korea's food production, but there is not a hint of acknowledgement of this by the authorities, who tell their captive subjects that the bags of grain stenciled with the Stars and Stripes are tribute paid by a frightened America to the Dear Leader.

Myers also points out that many of the slogans employed and displayed by the North Korean state are borrowed directly—this really does count as some kind of irony—from the kamikaze ideology of Japanese imperialism. Every child is told every day of the wonderful possibility of death by immolation in the service of the motherland and taught not to fear the idea of war, not even a nuclear one.

The regime cannot rule by terror alone, and now all it has left is its race-based military ideology. Small wonder that each "negotiation" with it is more humiliating than the previous one. As Myers points out, we cannot expect it to bargain away its very raison d'etre.

All of us who scrutinize North Korean affairs are preoccupied with one question. Do these slaves really love their chains? The conundrum has several obscene corollaries. The people of that tiny and nightmarish state are not, of course, allowed to make comparisons with the lives of others, and if they complain or offend, they are shunted off to camps that—to judge by the standard of care and nutrition in the "wider" society—must be a living hell excusable only by the brevity of its duration. But race arrogance and nationalist hysteria are powerful cements for the most odious systems, as Europeans and Americans have good reason to remember. Even in South Korea there are those who feel the Kim Jong-il regime, under which they themselves could not live for a single day, to be somehow more "authentically" Korean.

Here are the two most shattering facts about North Korea. First, when viewed by satellite photography at night, it is an area of unrelieved darkness. Barely a scintilla of light is visible even in the capital city. (See this famous photograph.) Second, a North Korean is on average six inches shorter than a South Korean. You may care to imagine how much surplus value has been wrung out of such a slave, and for how long, in order to feed and sustain the militarized crime family that completely owns both the country and its people.

But this is what proves Myers right. Unlike previous racist dictatorships, the North Korean one has actually succeeded in producing a sort of new species. Starving and stunted dwarves, living in the dark, kept in perpetual ignorance and fear, brainwashed into the hatred of others, regimented and coerced and inculcated with a death cult: This horror show is in our future, and is so ghastly that our own darling leaders dare not face it and can only peep through their fingers at what is coming.

Dentro del extraño mundo que es Corea del Norte

Redacción

BBC Mundo


Bandera de Corea del Norte

Corea del Norte está de luto tras la muerte del "Querido Líder" Kim Jong-il.

Es una de las naciones más cerrada y reservadas en la Tierra. Pero en los últimos 18 meses, dos periodistas de la BBC han sido testigos de algunos de los aspectos más extraños de la vida en Corea del Norte, un país que está de luto tras la muerte de su líder, Kim Jong-il.

La presentadora de la televisión estatal que difundió la noticia lo hizo vestida de negro y esforzándose por contener las lágrimas.
Muere Kim Jong-il

La muerte de un líder controversial y enigmático
Kim Jong-un, el "gran sucesor"
Corea del Norte enfrenta una "peligrosa sucesión"

Informó que el líder había muerto de un ataque al corazón después de un excesivo trabajo físico y mental, lo que provocó llanto histérico en las calles de Pyongyang, la capital.

Ahora el cuerpo, cubierto con una tela roja dentro de un sarcófago de cristal sobre un lecho de flores, reposa en el palacio memorial de Kumsusan, donde se suceden los homenajes a la memoria del fallecido y donde también reposan desde hace 17 años los restos de su padre, Kim Il-sung.

Desde edades tempranas a los ciudadanos de Corea del Norte se les enseña a expresar devoción tanto a Kim Il-sung, conocido como "el Gran Líder", quien murió en 1994, como al "Querido Líder", Kim Jong-il.

Estas son algunas observaciones de Sue Lloyd Roberts y Michael Bristow, de la BBC, quienes en 2010 tuvieron una visión de primera mano de la vida en Corea del Norte.

clic Lea: Momento incierto en la península de Corea
Los estudiantes no tienen idea de quién es Mandela
Cifras y contrastes en Corea del Norte
El país tiene unos 25 millones de habitantes, la 48º nación más populosa. (Corea del Sur tiene 48 millones).
El ingreso per cápita es de unos US$1.000 (el sur tiene unos US$20.000).
Pyongyang publica pocos datos sobre su Producto Interno Bruto, pero se considera que en 2009 era de US$40.000 millones.
Se estima que el país tiene alrededor de 1.118.000 soldados, y desde 2003 posee armas nucleares.
Sin embargo, entre 1995 y 1999 se estima que un millón de norcoreanos murieron de hambre (algunas fuentes triplican esa cifra).
El Programa Mundial de Alimentos y ONG's han enviado asistencia alimentaria, pero en 2011 se percibe una "fatiga" entre los donantes, y el sur no ha aportado comida o fertilizantes desde 2008.

En el departamento Lenguas Extranjeras de una universidad le pregunté a los estudiantes cómo se las habían arreglado para aprender un inglés tan bueno.

"Gracias al Gran Líder -respondió un joven- que nos permite ver películas inglesas y estadounidenses como The Sound of Music, (Sonrisas y lágrimas, en España, y La novicia rebelde, en América Latina).

Cuando le pregunté sobre qué dirigentes mundiales -aparte del Querido Líder- admiraba rápidamente respondió: "Stalin y Mao Tsetung"

Sin embargo, los estudiantes no habían oído hablar de Nelson Mandela.

Sue Lloyd Roberts, junio de 2010

clic Video: Una visita a la hermética Corea del Norte
Kim Il-sung murió, pero sigue siendo el presidente

Niñas pequeñas, con amplias sonrisas, bailan en perfecta formación, y niños, con elegantes trajes rojos y rostros pintados, cantan alabanzas al "Gran Líder".

Todo comenzó con discreto encanto, pero las sonrisas rígidas en rostros como máscaras, incluso de niños, pueden volverse bastante siniestras.

Otros menores son empleados para barrer las escaleras que conducen hasta la estatua de bronce del "Gran Líder", de unos 18 metros, que domina Pyongyang.

Kim Il-sung murió hace 16 años pero sigue siendo el presidente del país, y tiene más de 500 estatuas.

"Él es inmortal", explicó el guía, de 24 años de edad. "No creemos que haya muerto".

Sue Lloyd Roberts, mayo de 2010

clic Lea: La dinastía secreta de Corea del Norte
La adaptación de los que huyen
Cuerpo de Kim Jong-il

El cuerpo reposa en el palacio memorial de Kumsusan, donde se suceden los homenajes.

No es de extrañar que el promedio de 3.000 norcoreanos que logran escapar cada año del país más aislado y hermético del mundo, y llegar a Corea del Sur, se sientan como si hubieran aterrizado en otro planeta.

Los ciudadanos de Corea del Sur pueden utilizar sus teléfonos celulares para pagar en el supermercado, en el país de más rápida conexión de banda ancha por persona en el mundo, y en el que hay cámaras de pantalla táctil a lo largo de las principales calles comerciales para que la gente pueda enviar fotografías.

Por eso, los recién llegados de Corea del Norte pasan meses en escuelas especiales para aprender a lidiar con el siglo XXI.

Sue Lloyd Roberts, junio de 2010

clic Lea: Corea del Norte enfrenta una "peligrosa sucesión"
Sin acceso a internet
Llanto en Pyongyang

El funeral del líder norcoreano tendrá lugar el 28 de diciembre.

La televisión de Corea del Norte sólo emite hagiografías de sus líderes e imágenes de celebraciones militares o granjas y aldeas modelo.

Probablemente quienes se encargan aquí de nosotros nunca han visto otro tipo de noticia o documental sobre su país o el resto del mundo.

No pueden hacerlo porque nadie tiene acceso a internet en Corea del Norte.

Los norcoreanos usan una intranet que me fue mostrada en la Universidad de Pyongyang.

Un estudiante de Metalurgia que hablaba buen inglés explicó que no podía comparar sus investigaciones con las de un estudiante digamos de Londres o Los Ángeles porque el sistema no se lo permitía.

Sin embargo, agregó que "el Querido Líder ha colocado todo lo que se necesita saber en nuestro sistema de intranet".

Sue Lloyd Roberts, junio de 2010
Aceras limpiadas a mano

Corea del Norte está lo más aislada del resto del mundo como es posible. Hay muy pocos visitantes y la mayoría sólo pueden ver unos pocos lugares escogidos en Pyongyang.

El aislamiento ha permitido al país desarrollar una forma de vida rara vez vista en otros sitios.

La gente corta la hierba en la calle con unas tijeras, un acto que consume mucho tiempo, y limpia las aceras de la ciudad con cepillos y trapos, artículos generalmente reservados para el hogar.

La ciudad es gris y sin color, y la construcción de edificios es escasa.

Michael Bristow, octubre de 2010
Los líderes tienen flores especiales
Estatua de Kim Il-sung

Kim Il-sung murió hace 16 años pero sigue siendo el presidente del país.

La política lo permea todo en Corea del Norte, incluso las flores. El (fallecido) líder Kim Jong-il y su padre, Kim Il-sung, el fundador de Corea del Norte, tienen flores que llevan sus nombres.

Hay una exposición en el centro de Pyongyang que muestras las dos flores, llamadas kimjongilia y kimilsungia.

En un día de fiesta cientos de personas -soldados, parejas y familias con niños- deambulaban por el centro de exposiciones.

Muchos se fotografiaban frente de las flores, en una muestra de devoción hacia los dos únicos hombres que han gobernado este estado secreto comunista.

Pak Mi-Gyong, guía de la exposición floral que habla inglés, me dio otra muestra de la misma devoción.

Le pregunté si podía fotografiarla delante de un retrato gigante de los dos líderes que colgaba en un extremo de la sala principal.

Ella me advirtió que al tomar una fotografía había que tener el cuidado de no cortar los cuerpos de ambos hombres en la imagen.

"Ellos son nuestros líderes y los respetamos desde el fondo de nuestros corazones. No permitimos a otras personas cortar sus imágenes en fotografías", dijo un poco enfadada.

Michael Bristow, octubre de 2010

Del gulag a la hambruna, el brutal legado del 'Querido líder'

Los campos de concentración y el hambre configuran la siniestra herencia del dictador norcoreano

Muere Kim Jong-il, líder de Corea del Norte
Corea del Norte, nuevo jefe para el campo de concentración

Fabrizio Simula / J. Losa Madrid 19 DIC 2011 - 13:53 CET28
Archivado en:


El líder norcoreano Kim Jong-il. / SCANPIX SWEDEN (REUTERS)

La muerte del último dictador estalinista, Kim Jong-il, deja tras de sí una herencia marcada por la crueldad y el hermetismo. Las torturas, las ejecuciones, así como las muertes por hambre y agotamiento en Corea del Norte han sido la orden del día durante los últimos 17 años en los que el dictador dirigió con mano de hierro su país. Los sucesivos informes de Amnistía Internacional publicados en la última década así lo atestiguan.

Hace apenas veinte días, Amnistía denunciaba la existencia de por lo menos seis campos de concentración en Corea del Norte, que retienen a más de 200.000 prisioneros políticos: una cifra mayor que la población entera de San Sebastián. El mayor de ellos, Yodok, encierra a cerca de 50.000 personas: entre ellos hombres, mujeres y niños.

Rajiv Narayan, investigador de Amnistía sobre Corea del Norte, califica de horrible la política represiva del régimen. Subraya la terrible situación en los campos de concentración, donde se practica sistemáticamente la tortura y las ejecuciones sumarias. Narayan explica que la represión no afecta solo a los opositores, sino también a sus parientes y que para toda la población se aplica de un sistema de reeducación constante para controlar permanentemente la sociedad. En cuanto al futuro, el investigador considera que la muerte del líder constituye “una oportunidad para empezar a cambiar la situación del país y para presionar al sucesor para que reconsidere la situación de los derechos humanos y de la libertad de expresión”.

Otro informe, publicado en 2006 y encargado entre otros por el recientemente fallecido expresidente checo Václav Havel y el Premio Nobel de la Paz Eli Wiesel, daba a conocer datos aún más aterradores si cabe. Se hablaba de más de 400.000 personas muertas en las prisiones norcoreanas en los últimos 30 años. El documento también describía cómo los presos eran alimentados con raciones míseras, golpeados hasta que los globos oculares se les salían de las cuencas y encerrados durante meses en celdas solitarias en las que no se podían poner de pie.

En 2004 se supo por mediación de un antiguo jefe de seguridad de un campo de concentración que el régimen estaba llevando a cabo experimentos químicos en cámaras de gas con prisioneros políticos, según un reportaje emitido por la cadena de televisión británica BBC. Estos ensayos tuvieron lugar en el campo de concentración número 22, situado en Haengyong, cerca de la frontera con Rusia. El oficial aseguraba que fue testigo de cómo se utilizó gas asfixiante con una familia entera en una cámara de gas construida con un techo de cristal para que los científicos pudieran observar mejor desde el exterior.
Un país famélico

Para Human Right Watch (HRW), Kim Jong Il deja “un legado de atrocidades masivas”. Según explica Reed Brody, consejero jurídico de HRW en Bruselas, Corea del Norte destaca por ser “el más cerrado y represivo régimen que se pueda imaginar” en el mundo. El investigador afirma que Kim será recordado como uno de los líderes más brutales, responsables de centenares de miles de muertos, hambrunas, y de una serie de atrocidades que constituyen la “antítesis de la dignidad humana”. ¿Pero cómo pudo sobrevivir un régimen así? El régimen se ha mantenido sólido pero la población no ha sobrevivido, afirma tajante Brody.

Ademas de la feroz represión, los desastres naturales y la mala gestión hundieron la economía de Corea del Norte a mediados de la década de 1990. Se estima que la hambruna que asoló entonces al país provocó entre varios cientos de miles y dos millones de muertos. Según la Organización para la Agricultura y la Alimentación y el Programa Mundial de Alimentos de la ONU, 5 millones de habitantes de Corea del Norte se enfrentan actualmente a una grave escasez de comida. El informe señala que Corea del Norte podría tener este año una carencia de 867.000 toneladas de cereales, pero el país sólo planea comprar 325.000 toneladas.

“El hambre es un problema que persiste con un 37% de los menores con malnutrición crónica" en Corea del Norte, según el informe de Vaclav Havel y Elie Wiesel, que denunciaba que el gobierno de Pyongyang obstaculiza el acceso al Programa Mundial de Alimentación de la ONU a regiones necesitadas del país. En cuanto a las perspectivas sobre el futuro, Brody explica que "es difícil que la situación empeore, ya que ha alcanzado niveles inimaginables". La comunidad internacional tiene la oportunidad para presionar el régimen para que se pongan en marcha reformas democráticas, afirma el investigador, que señala la responsabilidad en este sentido de China, Japón y Corea del Sur.

Is Kim Jong Un up to the task?

Posted By Stephen M. Walt Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - 1:28 PM Share

Victor Cha of Georgetown University scores a rare two-fer on today's oped pages, landing a piece in the New York Times and another in the Financial Times, both on the implications of Kim Jong Il's death. Victor's main argument is that new leader Kim Jong Un, (son of the deceased Kim Jong Il, grandson of Kim Il Sung) won't be up to the task of running an already-troubled regime. In his words: "Such a system simply cannot hold." He suspects this situation will encourage China to get more actively involved in internal North Korea politics (and might go so far as to "adopt" it as a quasi-province). Cha doesn't think there's much that the United States can or should do at this juncture, but he recommends that the United States start more active contingency planning for the collapse of the regime or significant internal turbulence, and redouble its efforts to establish a channel of communication on this issue with Beijing.

Victor knows a heck of a lot more about North Korea than I do, so I'm reluctant to challenge either his forecast or his prescriptions. But I can think of at least one reason why Kim Jong Un might -- repeat might -- fare somewhat better than Cha expects. If North Korea's ruling elite understands their own fragility and recognizes the dangers that a serious power struggle might pose, then Kim Jong Un can survive by default. Why? Because he's the one leader that all the potential contenders can agree on, if only to avoid the dangerous uncertainties that an open contest for power would entail.

As the history of every royal family shows, dynastic succession doesn't guarantee that you get a gifted or effective ruler every time. But it often works because having anybody in place helps ward off in-fighting among various potential contenders. And even if Kim Jong Un is mostly a figurehead, he's the only person in North Korea who can credibly claim to have been chosen by the departed Dear Leader.

All this is not to say that the regime won't have real problems in the months ahead, and I certainly won't be surprised if Cha's forecasts are borne out. But the Kim dynasty has lasted longer than one might have expected, and we shouldn't be utterly astonished if the newly ascendant "Great Successor" turns out to be the compromise candidate that the rest of the elite decides to tolerate, in order to avoid the risky process of picking someone else.

North Koreans will 'die from malnutrition within months'

US postponement of food aid decision after death of Kim Jong-il is related to denuclearisation talks, experts claim

[IMG]http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2011/12/21/1324487206733/North-Koreans-mourn-the-d-007.jpg[/IMG]

Tania Branigan in Beijing and agencies
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 21 December 2011 13.56 EST
Article history

North Koreans mourn the death of their leader Kim Jong Il

North Koreans mourn the death of Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang. Aid groups warn that the country is short of a month's supply of food for the year. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Humanitarian groups fear that the death of Kim Jong-il could worsen North Korea's dire food situation, after the US postponed a decision on potential aid.

The country has relied on foreign supplies since the devastating famine of the mid-90s killed hundreds of thousands of people. But the World Food Programme (WFP) and NGOs have warned that the situation is particularly bleak this year.

Aid groups warned that North Koreans would die from malnutrition within months unless donations increased. The WFP launched an emergency programme in April, but has received less than a third of the funding it needs.

"We are concerned. Time is of the essence," said Ken Isaacs of Samaritan's Purse, a US-based NGO that helped to distribute the last American food aid in North Korea, almost three years ago.

David Austin of Mercy Corps, who visited flood-hit regions in September, warned: "The longer you delay this decision, the more suffering there's going to be." He said it would take six weeks to three months to set up new deliveries, and warned that based on current conditions, people's food rations would be cut "quite substantially" by April.

"As that goes on and on, you'll see the effects of stunting in people's growth and their development. You'll see children dying," he said.

A WFP assessment last month found that harvests improved this year despite heavy rains and flooding in late summer. However, many people had experienced prolonged deprivation and North Korea still faced a food deficit of some 414,000 tons.

"Health officials interviewed reported a 50% to 100% increase in the admissions of malnourished children into paediatric wards compared to last year, a sharp rise in low birth weight, and the mission team observed several cases of oedema [a symptom of extreme malnutrition]," it added.

Reports have suggested that the US could offer 240,000 tons of aid. It says the decision is unrelated to denuclearisation, but experts point out how closely talks on the two issues have run and say North Korea has greatly improved access for monitoring and assessment – the grounds that the state department gives for requiring further discussions.

"We're going to have to keep talking about this, and given the mourning period, frankly, we don't think we'll be able to have much more clarity and resolve these issues before the new year," spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told a news conference.

Kim Hartzner of the Danish NGO Mission East said the current conditions were equivalent to North Korea producing enough to feed its population for only 10 months of the year, and buying another two weeks' worth of food.

The WFP programme was supposed to provide the other six weeks' worth – but because it has insufficient funding, can supply only two.

"In broad numbers, they lack one month of food for the entire year," he said.

He warned: "Everyone is warning it's going to get worse and worse, but nothing happens. I fear it's going to be the same situation as in the African Horn: in four or five months you will see quite a lot of people dying and people will say, 'Why didn't we do something four or five months ago?'"

He said one of the girls he had treated on a recent visit to North Korea was six years old yet weighed less than his children when they were one. Her hair was greying and her upper arm circumference was just 10cm.