Koreans In Philadelphia Following Developments After Death Of Kim Jong-Il
By Cherri Gregg
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- He ruled with an iron fist and now he's gone. Korean-Americans in the Delaware Valley area have mixed reactions to the death of dictator Kim Jong-ll (see related story).
"I am really happy, happy to have the dictation over," says Stephen Kim, who has been in the US for 32 years and owns a restaurant in the Olney section of Philadelphia. His father escaped North Korea just before the war.
"My father wants a reunification in his generation, but he is very doubtful about it," said Kim.
Justin Lee has been in Philadelphia for 20 years. He says he is worried about what will happen once Kim Jong-Un takes control.
"He is very young and has no experience, and he is not strong enough to rule over the old powers. So we are worrying what is going to happen in my country," Lee tells KYW Newsradio.
Lee says he too wants the North and South to become one, but says the two countries are so different now that it could take generations before reunification takes hold.
"In the Korean peninsula we will have a hard time, and it will take maybe longer than Germany to overcome the differences -- the gap in economy, politics, science, even in the culture."
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