"His death is good for all over" said Kim. "All the world."

Dining at a nearby sushi restaurant, businessman Alex Hahn has worked to create business ties in North Korea and visited the region about a decade ago. Hahn said he believes the Europe educated Kim Jong-Un will be friendlier to Western markets, though he wonders who the young successor will pick as his adviser. He is widely believed to be around 28 years old.

"I think, he's too young and less experienced," said Hahn. "So some senior will have to help Kim Jong-Un."

But it's precisely his youth that gives Isabel Kang hope. Kang is program director for the Korean Community Center of the East Bay. She believes the younger Kim will be more open to reunification with the South.

"Given the famine, given the desperate conditions of living for the majority of the people there, they want to go toward a resolution that is peaceful," said Kang. "With every newer generation, I have that hope."

Kang's mother fled North Korea during the Korean War, and Kang believes she still has relatives there.

Kim Jong IlKim Jong Il

Bay Area Koreans React With Concern, Hope at Kim Jong Il's Death