Social Media

Twitter Reacts to Kim Jong-il's Death


North Korean leader Kim Jong-il died Saturday while on a train trip, and his youngest son Kim Jong-un has been named the new leader of the country, Reuters reports.

Kim Jong-il was known by the West as a dictator who helped turn North Korea into an extremely repressive, poor and reclusive state, and the reactions to his death on Twitter don't show him much kindness.

Soon after the news of his death broke out, the term "Team America" started trending on Twitter. It's a reference to "Team America: World Police," a movie by South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, in which Kim Jong-Il is featured as an evil dictator trying to conquer the world.

Other reactions are mostly puns on Kim Jong-il's name and jokes about his self-serving personality.

SEE ALSO: Kim Jong-il’s Death Spawns Odd New Meme

Although the social media reaction to the Jong-il's passing is lighthearted, the situation in North Korea is uneasy at the very least. Kim Jong-il's son and heir, Kim Jong-un, is a mystery - even his exact age is unknown (he's believed to be in his twenties).

Some experts even believe that Jong-il's death might shake up North Korea's regime.

"Up until tonight, if anybody had asked you what would be the most likely scenario under which the North Korean regime could collapse, the answer would be the sudden death of Kim Jong-il. And so I think right now we're in that scenario and we don't know how it's going to turn out," said Victor Cha, a Korea expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

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