North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il is dead, his son Kim Jong-Un is the assumed successor, and L.A.’s Koreatown is monitoring news coverage for developments affecting relatives on the Korean Peninsula. A quarter-million Koreans live in Southern California with most of them residing in the Koreatown district of Los Angeles, the Korean capitol of America. The North Korean state-delayed news of the death of Kim Jong-Il is blaring from radios, televisions, the Korea Times of Los Angeles and Korean websites with a fury. Worried that Kim Jong-Il’s death at age 69 will have a destabilizing effect on greater Korea, Californians are calling relatives in South Korea to exchange information, share concerns and plot strategies. Kim Jong-Il’s death has shifted the global focus to his youngest son Kim Jong-Un, whom many believe will rule briefly until a non-family member is democratically elected. North Korea’s 24 million people are said to be rallying round Kim Jong-Un, according to the Korean Central News Agency which officially stated, “At the leadership of comrade Kim Jong-Un, we have to change sadness to strength and courage and overcome today’s difficulties.” The Swiss-educated Kim Jong-Un, 30, is far more worldly, globally-connected, Internet-savvy and diplomatically-aware than his late father was and speaks Korean, Mandarin Chinese, English, German and French. Because the transfer of North Korean power will affect Californians, directly and indirectly, United Nations sources have told Californiality that negotiations are already underway between international parties regarding: Modernization of the North Korean economy Bringing the nuclear nation “into the fold” Democratic elections International aid, loans and credit Normalization of global diplomatic relations Technological assistance from California Establishment of ongoing dialogue between North and South Talks involving North Korea, South Korea, China, the United States, Japan and Russia had been scheduled but were never held.
