north korea to south korea. and at the same time, north korea's first vice foreign minister was in washington eating with the united states. so i came away not with the sense that the north koreans were embracing chinese-style market reforms but that the focus was on securing a more tranquil external atmosphere and trying to crank up the economy and that fits into the critical importance of the year 2012 in the north korean calendar. north koreans call is ju chai 100. it was invented by kim il-sung. april 2012 is his 100th birthday. the mantra has been the country should be a powerful and prosperous country. the powerful they got because they are nukes. the emphasis was on the prosperous. you had indications of focusing on the economy. i actually came away with a sense that it was a little bit more relax and a little bit more open to being open than it had been before. it's very hard to interpret what that means and it may well be in this period of, you know, national tragedy and crisis that the north koreans wi

troops and if suddenly north korea were to collapse and we would have one korea and that one korea would have twenty eight thousand u.s. troops on it then those u.s. troops would essentially be on the chinese border so the chinese are trying to reproduce their model in north korea you have chinese businessmen private business as well as government investment and what the koreans they need that the koreans wanted but the koreans are also scared to death that they're going to become a wholly owned subsidiary of china so it's a problematic relationship for korea to they want the chinese investment they want the chinese political support but they don't want to be owned and operated by china and they suspect all great powers so this is the dance these are the lines that all those countries are walking right now you know john i want to go to you i think one of the interesting things to me is that one of the first things i heard. with the announcement of the death of kim jong il is that it was interesting from the south koreans that the south korean government said that we should be prepared to

/south korea/japan/russia and north korea. basically to get north korea to end its nuclear ambitions, on hold for many years. north korea really refusing to verify some of the commitments it made to end its nuclear program. in recent months we've seen the u.s. -- north korea doesn't care to talk to all of these parties. what they really want is an agreement with the united states. in recent months we've seen some engage minute the united states on restarting these talks. >> there was just a report out of the associated press just yesterday, as a matter of fact, saying that the u.s. was about to agree to send food aid for the first time in three years to north korea. >> that's right. >> in exchange, that north korea would suspend its controversial uranium enrichment program. >> that announcement was supposed to come as early as today. we could be sitting here talking about that. it's really unsure now how this throws everything into the equation. i think what the u.s. is going to be doing is watching, waiting and preparing, coo

troops and if suddenly north korea were to collapse and we would have one korea and that one korea would have twenty thousand u.s. troops on it then those u.s. troops would essentially be on the chinese border so the chinese are trying to reproduce their model in north korea you have chinese businessmen private business as well as government investment and what the koreans they need that the koreans wanted but the koreans are also scared to death that they're going to become a wholly owned subsidiary of china so it's a problematic relationship for korea to they want the chinese investment they want the chinese political support but they don't want to be owned and operated by china and they suspect all great powers so this is the dance these are the lines that all those countries are walking right now you know john i want to go to you i think one of the interesting things to me is that one of the first things i heard. with the announcement of the death of kim jong il is that it was interesting from the south koreans that the south korean government said that we should be prepared to save

with north korea. again, agreeing to suspend their enrichment activities. but again, this has not yet been announced, but that was something that certain united states negotiators who had met several times over the past several months, both in geneva and beijing had hoped to bring to fruition. >> and now everyone is looking to kim jong un, we think he's in his late 20s. he likes basketball, we heard mike choi say he's a quiet, polite man. but is this the young man with very little experience the man who can essentially create the cult of personality as his father and grandfather did? >> well, it's probably unlikely that he will be able to do that. even kim jong il was not able to maintain the cult of personality that his own father did, kim il-sung. and certainly when kim jong il nominated his young son to take over, people are concerned. he's very young. he doesn't have that much experience that we know of. and he's going to be taking over, we presume a nuclear nation. we will have to wait and see. th

he's now our team korea. for a wider look at the implications of kim jong il's death toll now to christina hall a professor at the university of california santa cruz is an expert on korean affairs thanks ever so much taking the time to be with us and as we heard in that report there are hopes that north korea could maybe change its foreign policy and open up to the world is that hope likely to become reality do you think. well i think that that is a position that north korea has actively promoted you often hear these kind of demonizing portraits of north korea as honest a kind of marlon terry reclusive state but actually if you follow closely the policies. on the international stage and then his son kim jong il and then now we have to earn and we have yet to see what his tenure will be like you can see that there's been a kind of. a kind of double sort of footed approach of attempting to maintain north korean sovereignty while trying to engage with the international community how will he be accepted by the m

east through north korea to south korea and at the same time, north korea's foreign minister was in washington meeting with the united states. so i came away, not with the sense that the north koreans were embracing chinese style market reforms. but that the focus was on securing a more tranquil external atmosphere and trying to crank up the economy. and that fits into the critical importance of the year 2012 and the north korean calendar. the north koreans call it juche 100. juche is the national ideally of self-reliance invented by kim il-sung. the official mantra has been that the country should be a powerful and prosperous country. and the powerful they have got because they have got nukes. the emphasis was on the prospero prosperous. so you had the indications of focusing on the economy. i came away with a sense that it was more relaxed and a little bit more open to being open. than it had been before. and i -- it's very hard to interpret what that means, and it may well be in this period f of, you know, national tragedy and crisis that the north koreans will tighten things up

the leaders of the two koreas also came together. they signed a reconciliation agreement, but it was not last. soon after, the u.s. president george w. bush declared north korea as part of an axis of evil. pyongyang expelled nuclear weapons inspectors. he was a genius of military art and strategy. the culture that has grown around kim jong il is now likely to switch to his son, kim jong- un -- kim jong-un. >> the economy is known to focus on industry. that supports its mystery -- military. the general population has had to pay the price, sometimes with famine and starvation. the country has often been dependent on food supplies from abroad. >> the international trade fair in pyongyang a few weeks ago. the communist regime tries to present a picture of itself as open and forward-looking, but the country has little to interest international trade partners. its only real products are cheap medicine and some electrical goods. one factor hampering the economy is north korea's efficiency in the use of its -- and efficiency in the use of it

troops and if suddenly north korea were to collapse and we would have one korea and that one korea would have twenty thousand u.s. troops on it then those u.s. troops would essentially be on the chinese border so the chinese are trying to reproduce their model in north korea you have chinese businessmen private business as well as government investment and what the koreans and they need that the koreans wanted but the koreans are also scared to death that they're going to become a wholly owned subsidiary of china so it's a problematic relationship for korea too they want the chinese investment they want the chinese political support but they don't want to be owned and operated by china and they suspect all great powers so this is the dance these are the lines that all those countries are walking right now you know john i want to go to you i think one of the interesting things to me is that one of the first things i heard. with the announcement of the death of kim jong il is that it was interesting from the south koreans that the south korean government said that we should be prepared to

troops and if suddenly north korea were to collapse and we would have one korea and that one korea would have twenty thousand u.s. troops on it then those u.s. troops would essentially be on the chinese border so the chinese are trying to reproduce their model in north korea you a chinese businessman private business as well as government investment and what the koreans they need that the koreans wanted but the koreans are also scared to death that they're going to become a wholly owned subsidiary of china so it's a problematic relationship for korea to they want the chinese investment they want the chinese political support but they don't want to be owned and operated by china and they suspect all great powers so this is the dance these are the lines that all those countries are walking right now you know john i want to go to you i think one of the interesting things to me is that one of the first things i heard. with the announcement of the death of kim jong il is that it was interesting from the south koreans that the south korean government said that we should be prepared to save mon

troops and if suddenly north korea were to collapse and we would have one korea and that one korea would have twenty eight thousand u.s. troops on it then those u.s. troops would essentially be on the chinese border so the chinese are trying to reproduce their model in north korea you have chinese businessmen private business as well as government investment and what the koreans and they need that the koreans wanted but the koreans are also scared to death that they're going to become a wholly owned subsidiary of china so it's a problematic relationship for korea to they want the chinese investment they want the chinese political support but they don't want to be owned and operated by china and they suspect all great powers so this is the dance these are the lines that all those countries are walking right now you know john i want to go to you i think one of the interesting things to me is that one of the first things i heard. with the announcement of the death of kim jong il is that it was interesting from the south koreans that the south korean government said that we should be prepare

as glimpse into north korea. ill give you an inside look at my trip last year and just how isolated the next generation of leaders are from the rest of the world. fantastic! [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. >>> joining us right now is mary matalin and paul i have gala. mary, these new numbers in the poll, you have add chance it look at them. overall romney and gingrich nationally among republicans and independent, who lean republican, are in both 28%. that's very close. obviously. but look at this. we ask the question, which of the candidates would not be be able to support under any circumstances. repeat the phrase, any circumstances. ron paul, 43% of republicans say they cannot support ron paul under any circumstances. bachmann, 42%. perry, 33. newt gingrich, 34. mitt romney only 16% said they couldn't support him under any circumstances.

this has been north korea's position. so north korea will not make any real attempts and certainly not trust the united states until at least the next administration is established in washington and seoul. >> ifill: balbina hwang, ambassador donald gregg, thank you very much. >> pleasure to be with you. >> woodruff: some of the biggest stories of 2011 involved extreme weather that wreaked havoc in many states and cities. as the year comes to a close, it's sparking plenty of discussion in the world of science about the causes and meaning of those events. hari sreenivasvan explores all that following some background. >> reporter: from snow to floods to tornadoes, it's been a year of record-breaking weather across the u.s. mainland. more, in fact, than any year since modern record-keeping began. it began in late january with paralyzing blizzards that dumped heavy snow on 22 states. chicago was buried under nearly two feet of snow and the windy city ground to a near- standstill. >> for the past ten hours i've traveled 0.9 mil

your ally, north korea, but how much more does china know about the internals within north korea than the rest of the world does? is it a lot, a little, or none at all? >> reporter: well, if you were to compare it to the rest of the world, china would seem to know more, but that's about all we can really say. you know, the chinese, when you talk to them here, they say, yes, well, we are friends with north korea, but that doesn't mean we have any more influence than anyone else. they were, of course, caught off guard when the north koreans went ahead with their nuclear tests, both times, and the chinese were not happy at all, of course, with this happening right in their backyard. now, they have been involved somewhat with talks about the transition to the new leadership, and of course, there were rumors -- they have not been confirmed -- that kim jong-il's youngest son, kim jong-un, did come to china earlier this year on a visit, sort of to get the seal of approval from beijing. now, of course, beijing is very keen to make sure this is a peaceful transition. they don't want millions o

the world and he's now our team korea. all with korea preparing to take its first steps on the new leadership the world is waiting to see what the culture is primary move for joining me now is the editor of the japan based news website called that report dot com and james called to quit many to join us here on our say the south korean media is reporting that the north has just test fired up a listed missile if that is true what sort of message do you think is being sent here. well if it's true that nature abhors a vacuum it must be especially true when it comes to nuclear armed states when we talk about global geopolitics so this is obviously an extremely tense situation in a lot of ways and i think that any new regime in north korea is looking to assert its power into to show that it is obviously still exists on the world stage and that and that this is not going to destabilize the country so it might just be saber rattling for the sake of saber rattling at this point but it is a quite as tense situation and of course we

>> the most important country for north korea is china. the chinese leaders have officially expressed condolences to the death of kim jong-il, and north korean leaders know that china is strongly committed to the stability of north korea. another important country is the united states. i think that north korea will come back to the negotiating table with the u.s. before too long. for two reasons -- one is that by doing so, north korea would be able to show that the government is functioning properly. and, also, the improved relationship with the united states will be conducive to the stability of the new kim jong-un leadership. >> any signs of any possibility of military provocation? >> well, i don't think it is likely that north korea will take a provocative action such as nuclear test or missile test in the near future. because that would undermine its relationship with the u.s. however, i think it is possible that north korea might take provocative actions in the elc in order to put pressure on the south koreans, particularly those who

it is called in north korea. people are called inside their houses. -- people are cold inside their houses, too. this man actually lead their country into famine, and many other things as well. all of that will come later, perhaps. there, they are assembled. they are listening. this is all they have known for a long time. it is an astonishing scene, isn't it? >> on wednesday, the procession around p'yongyang -- what do you make of that? all outside observers are saying it is just choreographed. it is not sincere. it is just a show. >> i would not necessarily say that. i think choreographed is true. kim il-sung, who started all of this, was on record as complaining once about the actresses looking scruffy. i do not think they run the regime entirely as theater. it is a remarkable skill. it is also incredibly self- defeating. it means the real politics, which will break out soonerthint or later, power struggles, and different policies -- there is no proper space where those legitimately. it is not immaterial to be

south korea says it will allow private organizations and civilians to send coal don s tso north korea. a unification spokesperson says that the government has received a request from private groups. >> translator: to send condolences via fax or letter to north korea, once you make a request for the unification ministry for the contract. the ministry needs to process the request. the ministry will approve the application, unless there are extraordinary issues. >> chai said the ministry will handle the request. he added it has received applications from four organizations so far, including one involving inter-korean exchanges and another related to the late south korean president. south korea did not permit official visits or expressions of condolences when kim's father, kim il-sung died 17 years ago. they've reaffirmed the decision not to send a delegation to the north, although some officials feel they should do so. meanwhile, the u.s. state department says it is continuing to discuss a possible resumption of food aid to north korea. it says officials from both countries met on monday

north korea. as you know a nuclear armed country. we are fortunate my colleague gregg palkot was in north korea and was how far away from the dictator? >> i would say about 50 yards last year. kim jong-il has been running that country we know with an iron fist. the people are starving. the country is dying all at the same time they are developing nuclear programs nuclear missile programs what have you. it's a pore rye awe nation and the people are struggling. we were there we were a rare western media at the brave ground seeing up close kim jong-il and his son the heir apparent. up there on the reviewing stand and it was clear because of the illnesses because of the real problems that kim jong-il has with his health he was getting his son ready step by step he was moving up. but his son and young. it is not just a son. it is everybody that is around him is very important. we thought it was going to be years in the grooming process for his son. it could still be. he could still be supported by the

north korea. and later, a round table on religion, american politics, and public policy. "washington journal," back in a moment. ♪ >> have you tried the free c- span radio app? here is what users are saying. >> the audio quality is convincingly clear. an insanely great deal, considering it is also free. it took me about 10 seconds to learn how to use that -- use it. >> anytime, anywhere, get coverage of congress and coverage of c-span programs. and c-span, it is available wherever you are. find out more at c-span.org /radioapp. >> this weekend, three days of american history on c-span 3. saturday, visit the congressional cemetery on "american artifacts." then learn about american prosperity in the 50's and 60's. sunday, meet the white house chefs, dating back to the carter administration. then, highlights of coverage of the attack on pearl harbor. experience american history tv, all weekend, every weekend, on c-span 3. >> middle school students, high school students, we want you to tell us what

korea. here's something that we heard on the campaign trail, jon huntsman calling him a tyrant. mitt romney says his death is an opportunity for the u.s. perry had some of the most dire words saying north korea remains a nuclear power and there is a great threat that those weapons might fall into the wrong hands. are we witnessing the birth of a new campaign issue here? start with you, will. >> well, yes. i mean this should be an issue. this should be an issue as an illustration. we often elect presidents assuming they're like our chief legislator. we think their platform on legislation that they'll champion or oppose is one of the most important things. we expect the president to be prepared for the unexpected. whether it is financial crisis or terrorist attacks on our soil, you always need to be prepared for the unexpected. having a new clear power in north korea, now with a huge leadership vacuum, we have no whether or not his son will be able to consolidate power is a huge unexpected wor

>> i think at the end of the day north korea why -- korea is a weaker country than south korea, let alone the united states. if you look at its economy, its military, weaponry, it's a poor, poor country. but the problem is, even if it fights a war and loses, those u.s. servicemen and women that you referred to on the peninsula, they're put at risk, south korea is put at risk, there's a regional economy, they're on the border of china, is put at risk. no one wants to fight a korean war 2. o. that's the thing, even if they lose the cost to fight that would be enormous and something to avoid. jenna: we mentioned the start of our show, jim and i were talking about this was not expected at the beginning of this week and it can really formulate our foreign policy when we look ahead to the new year. you and i have talked about the axis of evil before, iran, iraq, north korea, that was the axis of evil. we talk about iran and obviously north korea is back in the conversation. right now, as of today, which country in your mind deserves the most attention as we go ahead into the new year, iran or n

how dangerous is north korea right now? >> north korea as a state has a considerable blackmailing capability because they have a large concentration of artillery aimed at the city of seoul, which is the capital of south korea, and has a very large population. so they could inflict huge casualties. as a state in a normal military conflict, the only strength of north korea is it capacity for suicidal measures, but not for sustaining a long range conflict. i don't think that north korea as such can go beyond certain limits if china, the united states, japan, russia and south korea can come to a common position. and i would think that the most important objective for the u.s. government at the moment is to get some agreement among these countries about restraining any domestic upheavals or any shows of strength by north korea. >> clearly china is a very, very important part of this process going forward. knowing the chinese as you do, what do you think they'll be feeling now? will they be concerned about this transfer in power,

north korea. let's not forget, these are the same questions posed about his father when kim jong il succeeded kim il sung. kim il sung is president for eternity. the questions were asked whether he would have the authority, those same questions being asked about kim jong un now. kim jong il had a long apprenticeship, 20 years by his father's son. his son only a matter of a few years. he's inheriting a country that is poor, that we know is cut off from the rest of the world where there's a hard line old leadership, military leadership in place, and how he's able to impose himself on that is going to be the real test as well as what sort of country he wants to lead, monita. >> stan, talk to us a little bit about the relationship between pyongyang and beijing and how they became these close allies? was it a case of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer? or was there some sense of genuine i guess commonality between them? >> reporter: an ideological unity certainly, if you go back six dec

tonight, nearly 30,000 american troops in south korea can be hit by north korea's missiles. what does kim jong-il's sudden death mean for them and for us here at home? so much depends on this man, kim jong-il's son and successor kim jong-un. but there are also many questions about him as well. what does he think? is he really in charge of the world's fifth largest army? must this young man, still in his 20s, prove himself by provoking conflict? our team is fanned out from washington to south korea tonight to work through these questions, and we begin with abc's global affairs anchor christiane amanpour who's reported from inside north korea twice before. >> reporter: it was high drama in north korea as this anchor sobbed the news of the dear leader kim jong-il's death. saying, "our dear general left us so suddenly, so sadly." and on the streets, the citizens duly did what was expected of them, wailing and weeping, a great display of public patriotism. one woman declaring, "he loved us so much. he asked us to work hard to feed the nation." a nation, in fact, steered into fami

the world and he's now artsy korea. but with korea preparing to take his first steps on the new leadership the halls waiting to witness the country's next move to discuss what that my brain just talked about consultant and author of she is joining us live the line from one to. south korea's military is on high alert as we've been reporting the north also reportedly carried out a ballistic missile test today i don't know what i look at it unpredictability is often a word associated when you think of north korea how is it like a player now with regard to the north relations with the rest of the world you think well i think yes definitely north korea is a secretive country it still remains to be seen whether the disappearance of him yong. kim by his son kim yong will mean any change especially amongst the younger generations one can expect that there should be some easing up especially this tendency of socially engineered massive occasion where they all they do all everything together even cry together now i think that the

state department they were set to announce plans to give north korea food aid in exchange for north korea saying that it would suspend its uranium enrichment program for nuclear weapon hes and allow international inspectors in to north korea. now, that was expected to take place today, that being monday, and unfortunately that has not p happened because of the death of kim jong-il. it this will be a precursor to those six-party talks to get north korea back to the table and denuclearize the korean peninsula. the u.s. state department is now saying that they will rehe expect the mourning period and wait for the right time to reengage north korea on these talks. >> i'll talk more about food aid. i'm glad you brought that up. anna coren in south korea, thank you. next on reporter roulette, let's go to the pentagon to barbara starr, pentagon correspondent, i believe she's in germany where she spoke -- barbara, you spoke with the chairman joichbt chiefs of staff about the significant leadership change. what did you hear? >> reporter: indeed, we're here with general dempsey. he was woken up wit

the united states backing south korea or north korea. they need to be able to find the path of stability during this time of so much uncertainty. >> kim jong un is a known figure in china. he was introduced to chinese leadership when he traveled there with his father. what will north korea look like under kim jong un? >> this is really not answerable right now. if you put your mind back to when soon passed away and kim jong il had taken over, they were speculating then exactly how we're speculating now. will he be able to assume authority? will he just be a puppet later? will the hard lines general take control? all of those questions are being asked now by kim jong un. last year he was being made a four-star general. he said his fingerprints have been on the attack for pyongyang island. we're asking questions about this man that we don't really know his exact age. it could be 28 or 29. we know he's young. some spec lalt that the couch of personality may be passing and now facing a new reality of a man who is being faceless to the west,

in which south korea absorbs north korea. so i think the north koreans will be sending out mixed signal s incremental progress in laying the ground work for resumption of the that nobody should -- they just don't have time that somehow they -- they are a soft target. some of these initiatives, very clear signals. if you mess with us, there will be a big price to pay. >> let's talk about that for a moment. in the past when there's been talk of this leadership transition, when there's been talk of kim jong-il's bad health and possible incapacity at the leadership, they have coincided with missile launches, attacks on the islands in south korea and various shellings across -- artillery shellings across the border. now, obviously, the death of kim jong-il is way beyond any talk of his ill health or tension within the leadership. that then begs the question, will we see some kind of major military movement on the part of the north koreans, possibly deploying troops on the border, sending ships out. i don't know. what do you think?

united states, north korea, south korea, to monitor the disputed areas on the west sea. to find ways to prevent crisis like this. he was open to them. he didn't accept them. >> at this point, i'm getting very anxious. worried we'll be stranded in north korea. but even an international crisis of this magnitude is not enough to change the north korea's program of sightseeing for us. today's trip takes us into the country side. once again, we're the only car on the road. we're in the vehicle. we've just left pyonyang. we're on the road to an apple orchard. not exactly sure what we're about to see, but supposedly, it's a pretty impressive sight. with electricity scarce, there are no lights in the tunnels except for our car's headlights. it's pitch-black inside. we're here overlooking all of these fruit trees. it's like row after row after row. eventually once the time is right, you'll see a lot of apples and other fruit growing right behind me. >> thank you very much. >> the visit is well choreographed. our guides take us to a little cottage where we meet a woman and her gra

north korea is under dictatorship. but it seems to allow a group of officials around the leader to make decisions. north korea is not an ordinary society. for example, people are starving because of a food crisis. in a normal country, it wouldn't be surprising if people staged strong protests. but the north korean government used the threat of military power to stop demonstrations from even breaking out. this means whether the north's next regime can be solid or not depends on the next leader's ability to control the military in a firm manner. this time could represent a big opportunity or the beginning of a major crisis for north korea. it is kim jong il who had the final say in making tough decisions on issues such as the country's nuclear program, and abductions of foreign nationals. what matters most is the leader's ability to silence opposing elements in the military. it's necessary for other nations to take action on north korea, to insure the country makes positive shifts in its policies. >>> countries around th

he's been educated outside of north korea. does this make you optimistic at all for the future of this country? >> well, i mean, i think that everyone right now, all we can do is speculate, but i think there could be a window of opportunity. you know, kim jong-il, there was 20 years for him to be groomed into a leader. kim jong-un has had less than two years. when you talk about this propaganda machine, he has -- kim jong-un has not existed for very long in that machine. so it will be interesting to see what happens. >> yeah, we were trying to negotiate laura and una's release, it was interesting because our sources were dealing with two entirely different factions inside north korea because it seemed that there was this schism between members of the foreign ministry and the military. if that is any indicator, it's an unpredictable time in that country right now. >> see if those bridges will be created. it's good to see you both. i'm glad you look so well. you look healthy. thanks for being with us. >> thank you, sanjay. >> li

he's been educated outside of north korea. does this make you optimistic at all for the future of this country? >> well, i mean, i think that everyone right now, all we can do is speculate, but i think there could be a window of opportunity. you know, kim jong-il, there was 20 years for him to be groomed into a leader. kim jong-un has had less than two years. when you talk about this propaganda machine, he has -- kim jong-un has not existed for very long in that machine. so it will be interesting to see what happens. >> yeah, we were trying to negotiate laura and una's release, it was interesting because our sources were dealing with two entirely different factions inside north korea because it seemed that there was this schism between members of the foreign ministry and the military. if that is any indicator, it's an unpredictable time in that country right now. >> see if those bridges will be created. it's good to see you both. i'm glad you look so well. you look healthy. thanks for being with us. >> thank you, sanjay. >> li

korea can be a more dangerous korea. a statement saying this, we are closely monitoring reports kim jong-il is dead. the president has been notified, and we are in close touch with allies in south korea and japan. we remain committed to stability on the korean peninsula and freedom and security of our allies. you're watching cnn. back with more breaking news coverage of kim jong-il after the break. that day, he bought life insurance. now, there's no way i could send our boy to college without it. if there was one thing i could say to hank, it'd be "thank you." you're welcome. hey, hank. [ male announcer ] life insurance you can use while you're still living. you are one lucky lady. mm-hmm. [ male announcer ] learn more from your state farm agent today. [ cheers and applause ] [ playing out of tune ] [ playing in tune ] [ male announcer ] at mcdonald's®, we support the community by giving to programs that bring out the best in our youth... ...because we believe when you feed the competitive spirit... ...it enriches the e

korea. north korea has caused strains in that relationship before, particularly with the nuclear tests in 2006, 2009. china concerned about its own border. there are a lot of people who fled across that border. around 30,000 refugees. here at the moment china very concerned that any implosion in north korea could see more of those people heading for the border. now kim jong eun has been brought here in the past by his father to get the chinese leader's approval. they are now going to see if he can be the leader in north korea that china needs. >> we'll learn a lot more about kim jong eun in the coming days. but let's back up for a moment, stan, right now. what do we know specifically about kim jong il's death? we know he had been ill several years, but over the past year i at least got the impression and a lot of observers got the impression that he seemed to be okay. but all of a sudden he has a heart attack. what happened on saturday? >> reporter: absolutely, wolf. i remember reporting abo

troops and if suddenly north korea were to collapse and we would have one korea and that one korea would have twenty thousand u.s. troops on it then those u.s. troops would essentially be on the chinese border so the chinese are trying to reproduce their model in north korea you have chinese businessmen private business as well as government investment and what the koreans they need that the koreans wanted but the koreans are also scared to death that they're going to become a wholly owned subsidiary of china so it's a problematic relationship for korea too they want the chinese investment they want the chinese political support but they don't want to be owned and operated by china and they suspect all great powers so this is the dance these are the lines that all those countries are walking right now you know john i want to go to you i think one of the interesting things to me is that one of the first things i heard. with the announcement of the death of kim jong il is that it was interesting from the south koreans that the south korean government said that we should be prepared to save