Disturbing video of, apparently, every North Korean crying hysterically over Dear Leader’s death

This week Europe lost Vaclav Havel, a leader who found the grandness of the palace in which he was expected to work so off-putting that he is said to have bought roller skates to get him down the long formal corridors more quickly. He is, for some, the embodiment of a wise principle that you should only entrust power to those who do not really want it. Tributes to Havel have been warm and respectful and many Czechs made their way to Wenceslas Square to light candles.

In North Korea, the "Dear Leader" has also passed on and, by contrast, grief has been unrestrained. Watching these displays is unsettling. Personally, I am not sure which would be the more unnerving - that the grief was real or that it was coerced:



It is not yet clear what effect Kim Jong Il's passing will have on the North Korean threat to possibly go to war over South Korea's plans to put up three Christmas trees (seriously).