This is the first part of a two-part series on the death of Kim Jong Il and the subsequent to rise to power of Kim Jong Un. Read part two here.

There is something special about the deaths of dictators, when a person with absolute authority over millions is suddenly gone, showing to everyone that he is, or, rather was, just a man. This is what happened in North Korea in 2011.

More than six years have now passed since Kim Jong Il died – one of the most significant moments in North Korea’s recent history. 

THE LAST DECEMBER