Kim Jong Il dies

Beep! I was on the escalator at IMM. I took a look at my Korean made Mobile, an alert from the WSJ that Kim Jong Il is dead.

I got back and saw the that Kospi had fallen more than 3%. Stock markets all over Asia have also gone south.

On facebook, some were delighted. These are the ignorant ones. There are better ways for Kim to die. Sudden death was a bad idea.

I imagine all the secretly and painstakingly drawn up plans to move the Chess pieces will now be put into action. The world outside would be kept out until a confident leader emerges, purportedly his third and youngest son. Another possibility is that we, most likely South Korea and China will somehow be drawn into their internal power struggle. This will seriously destabilize the region.

The longer we have to wait for the new leader to speak to his people and the world, the more we need to be worried and prepare for a bad outcome.