Why They Weep for Kim Jong-il

By Greg Scoblete
December 20, 2011

Weeping for Kimg Jong-il

Millions of people have viewed the above video depicting North Koreans bawling over the death of Kim Jong-il. NPR's Louisa Lim offers an explanation:

'When Kim Jong Il's father, Kim Il-sung, died in 1994, the party actually conducted surveys to see who displayed the most grief. And those people who stayed dry-eyed and just got on with their jobs as normal and didn't cry, they were actually punished. So that kind of thing looks like it's happening again.'

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