This is not going to be a long and involved diary, since I don't have the time to do it justice and this isn't even my area of expertise. Nevertheless, I found this compilation of translated Chinese reporting on the recent death of Kim Jong-il interesting enough to float it out there so that those interested could read it at their leisure.
While the first several pages of reporting on the Chinese government's official condolences paid to North Korea following the death of Jong-il can get rather tiresome, stick around for the middle section, where they translate a collection of prominent Chinese foreign policy columnists' response to the news, and their suggestions for what China's national interest is, and how they think China should interact with the new Kim Jong-un regime. Also of interest are the analyses towards the end of the compilation by Adam Cathcart, a PLU prof. and the English translator and editor of this project, and his take on what various players might be thinking or saying in private.
No country is a monolith, no matter the ridiculous meglomaniacal claims of dictatorial propaganda organs. Not North Korea, and definitely not China. There are divisions, factions, debates, and multiple possible paths into the future at any given time, even if on the surface everyone is pledging unanimity and single-minded purpose. While it is next to impossible for most of us to get much of an idea of what is actually going on in Pyongyang, there are some interesting hints in the various Chinese reactions to the death of Jong-il, and the possibilities of change with the Jong-un regime.
Happy reading, and please let's not use the comments to state the obvious about Kim Jong-il being a not-nice guy, or the North Korean regime being an unpleasant dictatorship. There are much more interesting discussions to be had here than merely recapitulating the obvious.