North Korea’s “dear leader”, Kim Jong-il, has life-threatening cancer, South Korean media claimed today, prompting fears for the country’s long-term stability. The reports came days after images appeared of the 67-year-old looking gaunt in a rare public appearance, increasing speculation that his health was worsening after a reported stroke last year.
Seoul’s YTN television channel reported that Kim had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, citing unidentified intelligence officials in South Korea and China as saying the illness was threatening his life. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said it could not confirm the report, and a unification ministry spokesman, Chun Hae-sung, told reporters he knew nothing of the claims. US officials contacted by Reuters were unable to comment. Tensions on the peninsula have been running high in recent months, since the North’s nuclear and missile tests, making the stability of the regime a more pressing issue than ever.
While he looked thin and limped slightly, analysts said his attendance sent out the message that he was still in charge. Daniel Pinkston, a senior analyst and expert on North Korea at the International Crisis Group, warned that Japanese media had floated many rumours about Kim’s health. He pointed out that the subject was so sensitive that a specific diagnosis of illness seemed “a little odd”, adding: “This kind of information would not be shared easily or casually.”
Kim – celebrated in North Korea for accomplishments such as hitting 11 holes-in-one in the first round of golf he ever played – took power in 1994. But while he took over the military National Defence Commission and the Workers’ party, he did not become president, instead naming his late father as “eternal leader”.
11 holes in one?….Uh-huh. Now where did I put the BS Meter?!?!?
11 holes in 1? Don’t believe it.
Part the oceans? Now that’s a different story.
Il is illin’.
So, here’s the plan:
First we send Steve Jobs over to help him out with his cancer. Then we send Tiger Woods over to help him out with his golf game.
Wait a minute: This guy’s only about 3 feet tall … miniature golf, anyone?
No person is illegal.
We all deserve the right to marry Kim Jong Il.
Kim Jong Il is the solution, not the problem.
For once Kim Jong Il is no longer the only fat man in North Korea.
A little compassion guys it’s tough to be a great world leader, He’s so ronery..
http://dailymotion.com/video/xhve8_team-america-im-so-ronery_fun
North Korea seems to suffer from a classic Napoleon Complex. Looking across the most fiercely guarded border in the world, surely they can see that if hostilities resumed, they would have little hope of prevailing. China plainly has little appetite any more for backing N. Korea’s adventurism. So their best hope for survival, as they see it, lies in nuclear weapons. Apparently they now possess these, a few anyway. Next, of course, is a way of delivering these weapons, thus their emphasis lately on developing and testing ballistic missiles. So far the results have been unimpressive, but the thought of how Pyongyang would behave if they could realistically threaten Seoul, Tokyo and possibly Shanghai, Beijing and Taipei, Alaska and Hawaii, gives the rest of the world the willies.
At the same time, they appear to be trying to engage us — a recent news story said the two journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling from CurrentTV who were arrested on North Korea’s northern border and convicted of “hostile acts” have not been shipped off to a labor camp, as expected, but kept at a resort, leading to speculation that they may be willing to negotiate for the women’s release.
It is odd how Communism, supposedly based on exalting the proletariat, has so often given rise to “Exalted Leaders,” with huge state resources devoted to creating cults of personality around them. Equally oddly, the rest of the world seems to fall for this, with enemies ridiculing the hero and allies praising him. Thus, we in the Western world know Kim Jong Il mainly through these stories of golf course heroism and rumors of terminal diseases.
Meanwhile, I don’t know why the U.S. refuses to talk directly to North Korea, insisting on the six-sided talks that seemed to be bearing fruit until late last year. Why did they suddenly shut them down? Was it due to Kim’s illness? There’s too much we just don’t know.
Uncle Pat,
I don’t know why the U.S. refuses to talk directly to North Korea, insisting on the six-sided talks that seemed to be bearing fruit until late last year. Why did they suddenly shut them down?
My guess is that Bush was playing the tough guy and didn’t want to be the only bully. He hopes that China and Russia would help calm NK.
As for shutting them down, have you ever tried to have an intelligent discussion with Alfred1 or Patrick?