CNS, with comments by NPSGlobal, 19 Dec 2011.

Worldwide alert on the death of Kim Jong-Il, who was the leader of the stalinist state of North Korea. The situation gives room to greater international speculation regarding the future direction of the country. The successor will be his son, the young Kim Jong-un who was appointed months ago. It is estimated that the young man is not ready for the task, which will lead to possible internal fractures and power struggles. During his long tenure of almost 20 years, Kim Jong-Il derived the majority of the country's scarce resources to military spending and nuclear weapons programs, while much of the population may not complete three daily intakes of food. A countless number of people died because of bad conditions of life, persecution and oppression.

North Korean state-run media reported that Kim Jong-il, Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), died on December 17 of heart failure at 8:30 AM local time. KCNA stated that Kim "suffered an advanced acute myocardial infarction, complicated with a serious heart shock, on [a] train on December 17, Juche 100 (2011) for a great mental and physical strain caused by his uninterrupted field guidance tour for the building of a thriving nation."

Kim's third son, Kim Jong-un, is expected to succeed him as head of state. Kim Jong-un was introduced on October 10, 2010 to both domestic and international audiences when he oversaw a military parade that also displayed three never-before-seen missile systems. The younger Kim was also promoted to the rank of General (??) in the Korean People's Army and Deputy Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Worker's Party in the days before the parade. His position on foreign policy, inter-Korean affairs, and the North's nuclear program is unknown, raising many questions about the path for the DPRK in a post-Kim Jong-il era.

North Korea conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 and revealed a uranium enrichment program to U.S. scientists in 2010. Satellite imagery from November 2011 revealed that construction on a new light water reactor at Yongbyon is ongoing. North Korea is also developing short-, intermediate-, and intercontinental- range ballistic missiles, and maintains a small number of cruise missiles. While the DPRK has yet to successfully test its Taepodong-2 ICBM, it recently completed a new missile base at Tongchang-dong, which is equipped for testing of missile systems of an even greater range.

In the days to come, the world will be paying close attention on this area of the world that keeps a state of war since more than 60 years. Kim´s death, recent news on accelerated ICBM missiles construction, the real possibility of a third nuclear test and, mainly, international ignorance on the heir, Kim Jong-un, open many questions on an international level, specially its neighbors.

Questions feed themselves through the regime´s ostracism. The complete lack of information and alternative sources don´t help to define a profile for the sensitive world´s area trapped between china´s growth, Russia´s recent political instability and the long lasting Japanese depression; all adding up to non lineal result.

Suspicions are at all stakes and different voices speak of things from an attack on South Korea to display regime´s strength to a languishing state where the fifth world´s army and famine coexist.

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