Kim Jong-un hailed as Kim Jong-ils successor

Level 2

Intermediate

1 Warmer

NEWS LESSONS / Kim Jong-un hailed as Kim Jong-ils successor / Intermediate

N T
O
FR BE C
O DO O
M W P
W N IA
EB LO B
SI A L
TE DE E
D

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2012

4. Scan the article to find out

whether you were right or not.

P
H

3. Write ten words in the outside

ring that you think will not appear
in an article on North Korea.

2. Write seven words in the inside

ring that you think might appear
in an article on North Korea.

CA

1. Write three words in the circle

that you think will definitely
appear in an article on
North Korea.

Kim Jong-un hailed as Kim Jong-ils successor

Level 3

Intermediate

Comprehension
words
check
3 Key
2
Write the key words from the article next to the definitions below. The paragraph numbers are given to
help you. Take note of the stressed syllables (in bold), and then find the words in the article to read them
in context.
anxiety

famine hailed harrowing

cynicism

regime revere successor violations

1. described publicly as good or important ______________________ (para 1)
2. someone who has an important position after someone else ______________________ (para 1)
3. to have a lot of respect and admiration for someone ______________________ (para 3)
4. the belief that something will not be successful or useful ______________________ (para 4)
5. a government that controls a country, especially in a strict or unfair way ______________________ (para 4)
6. a serious lack of food that continues for a long time and causes many people in a country to become ill or die
______________________ (para 4)
7. actions that are in opposition to a law, agreement, principle, etc. ______________________ (para 5)
8. extremely worrying, upsetting or frightening ______________________ (para 5)
9. a worried feeling you have because you think something bad might happen ______________________ (para 8)
alert cause denuclearization distraught
elevation elite

dynasty

glory instability

10. a situation that keeps changing, so that you are worried about what might happen ______________________
(para 8)
11. a warning that something dangerous has happened or is going to happen ______________________ (para 9)
12. getting rid of nuclear weaponry or power ______________________ (para 11)
13. giving someone higher status or a more important position ______________________ (para 13)
14. a family whose members rule a country or region for a long period of time ______________________ (para 13)
15. an aim, idea or organization that you support or work for, for example in politics ______________________
(para 15)
16. a small group of people who have a lot of advantages and keep the most power and influence
______________________ (para 16)
17. admiration and praise ______________________ (para 18)

NEWS LESSONS / Kim Jong-un hailed as Kim Jong-ils successor / Intermediate

PP
HH

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2012

CCAA O
O
TOO
NN T
FFRR BBEE C
C
O
OO DDOO O
MM W
W PP
W NN IIA
W
EEBB LLOO AB
SSII AAD BL
TTEE DEE LE
E
DD

18. extremely worried or upset ______________________ (para 19)

Kim Jong-un hailed as Kim Jong-ils successor

Intermediate

2 Kim had a heart attack on 17 December 2011 due

to physical and mental overwork, the official KCNA
news agency announced. Efforts to save the Dear
Leader failed and he died at 8.30am on his train.
3 An official notice told the nation, people and military
to faithfully revere Kim Jong-un, who is thought to be
just 28. He is now the new Supreme Commander
of the Korean Peoples Army. He was already being
prepared for succession after his fathers reported
stroke in 2008.
4 Experts say there is more and more cynicism in
North Korea about the regime. The country has had
food shortages since the terrible famine of the 1990s.
5 Meanwhile, 200,000 people are being kept in prison
camps. The United Nations special reporter on
human rights in North Korea described the countrys
situation by saying: There are many instances of
human rights violations which are both harrowing
and horrific.
6 But people in the streets of Pyongyang started to
cry when they heard about Kims death, Associated
Press reported.
7 It is the biggest loss for the party our people and
nations biggest sadness, a tearful newsreader
wearing black told viewers, as she announced Kims
death on television.
8 The death is not only important news for North
Koreas population of 24 million. For a long time,
other countries have been concerned about North
Koreas nuclear and missiles programmes and there
is a lot of anxiety about its possible instability.
9 It was reported that South Korean military leaders
declared an emergency alert after the news of Kims
death was announced. A spokesperson for the
Japanese Prime Minister said he had set up a crisis
management team on North Korea, and in the US,
Barack Obama was monitoring reports of the death.

12 In Beijing, a foreign ministry spokesperson said they

were sorry to hear the news, calling Kim a great
leader and true friend to the Chinese people.
13 Kim Jong-il was prepared for over a decade before
his succession. But Kim Jong-uns elevation has
been far more sudden. Many people wonder what
will happen to the Communist dynasty created by his
grandfather Kim Il-sung, the Eternal President.
14 A large part of the official death notice stressed that
Kim Jong-il had continued his fathers work, and his
son would do the same.
15 Kim Jong-uns leadership will complete the
revolutionary cause of Juche [self-reliance] started
by Kim Il-sung and led by Kim Jong-il, it said.
16 Kim Jong-il did not have the same power as his
father; he ruled with the military. Experts predict that
Kim Jong-un will be even more dependent on the
military and political elite.
17 Professor Jennifer Lind, an expert on the regime,
said: We dont know anything about what people in
North Korea the political and military elites think
about him. There is always a chance that unhappy
people might speak out against his succession. But
they are afraid of getting the death sentence.
18 Kims death came days before the beginning of
2012, which the regime has said would be a year of
glory because it is 100 years after the birth of
Kim Il-sung.
19 Dr Leonid Petrov, an expert on the country at the
University of Sydney, said that, while many citizens
in North Korea would be genuinely distraught, it
will not be as dramatic as it was in 1994 when Kim
Il-sung died Political cynicism is growing.
Guardian News & Media 2011
First published in The Guardian, 19/12/11

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2012

NEWS LESSONS / Kim Jong-un hailed as Kim Jong-ils successor / Intermediate

1 Hours after announcing his fathers death, North

Korea hailed the young son of Kim Jong-il as the
Great Successor.

11 We encourage North Korea to work for peace and

security in the region and take the steps necessary
to re-start the talks on denuclearization of the Korean
peninsula, he added.

N T
O
FR BE C
O DO O
M W P
W N IA
EB LO B
SI A L
TE DE E
D

Tania Branigan in Beijing

19 December, 2011

10 The UK Foreign Secretary, William Hague, said that

it was a difficult time for the North Korean people, but
that it could be an important moment for change.

P
H

Kim Jong-un hailed as Kim Jong-ils

successor by North Korean media

CA

Level 2

Kim Jong-un hailed as Kim Jong-ils successor

Level 2

Intermediate

3 Comprehension check
Are these statements true (T) or false (F) according to the information in the article?
1. The current leader of North Korea is Kim Jong-il.
2. There is a Communist political system in North Korea.
3. Kim Jong-un has been preparing to take over from his father for many years.
4. The United Nations is satisfied with North Koreas human rights record.
5. Other countries are worried about what will happen now in North Korea.
6. The new leader has promised to get rid of his countrys nuclear weapons.
7. The official death notice said that the new leader will continue the cause started by his grandfather.
8. People in North Korea are worried what will happen to them if they speak out against the regime.

4 Family tree
Complete the family tree using information from the article.

Name:
Born:
(2) Died: 1994
Given title:

(1)
(3)

Name: Kim Jong-il

Born: 1941
Died:
(4)
What is Kim Jong-il called in the article?


(5)

NEWS LESSONS / Kim Jong-un hailed as Kim Jong-ils successor / Intermediate

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2012

Name:
(6)
Born:
(7)
Official title:

(8)

N T
O
FR BE C
O DO O
M W P
W N IA
EB LO B
SI A L
TE DE E
D

Name:
Kim Jong-chul
Born: 1981

P
H

Name:
Kim Jong-nam
Born: 1971

CA

Name:
Kim Sul-Song
Born: 1974

Kim Jong-un hailed as Kim Jong-ils successor

Level 3

Intermediate

5 Collocations
a. Combine these words to make collocations from the article. Talk about their meanings and use them to
reconstruct the main points of the article.
1. food

a. rights

2. terrible

b. shortages

3. human

c. sentence

4. emergency

d. elite

5. crisis

e. management

6. Communist

f.

7. death

g. cynicism

8. revolutionary

h. dynasty

9. political

i.

notice

10. death

j.

cause

11. political

k. alert

famine

b. What other collocations can you make by combining the words above. Put them into example
sentences.

6 Discussion

NEWS LESSONS / Kim Jong-un hailed as Kim Jong-ils successor / Intermediate

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2012

CA O
N T
O
FR BE C
O DO O
M W P
W N IA
EB LO B
SI A L
TE DE E
D

The news about North Korea is updated constantly. What has happened since this story was published?