Hwang Jang Yop, who passed away suddenly this morning aged 87, strongly criticized North Korea's third generation succession for the last time in a column he wrote for The Daily NK last Tuesday.

In the piece, he reiterated, “Kim Jong Il has turned his entire country into a huge prison; a place where a few million people starve and he enslaves the rest.”

He also stressed, “Kim Jong Il is the worst kind of thief; a man who stole a whole country," before adding angrily, "Now he is making fun of and humiliating the North Korean people, making them shout ‘Hurrah!’ and ignoring the world after conferring a boy with the title, 'general'.”

He continued, “Do you think there is a more unabashed thief in this world?”

Hwang additionally criticized domestic pro-Kim Jong Il regime groups, saying, “Why do those who, with their enthusiastic nationalism, raise their voices to criticize those who helped the Japanese colonial government during Japanese colonial rule keep their eyes closed to Kim Jong Il’s anti-nation activities?”

He demanded, “I want them to stop telling lies to the people in order to conceal their cowardice and claiming that compromising with Kim Jong Il is the way forward for the country.”