U.S. official: N. Korea's Kim 'gravely ill'

[Andrew_Pakula]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...rnational/home

U.S. official: N. Korea's Kim 'gravely ill'

PAMELA HESS AND MATTHEW LEE
Associated Press
September 9, 2008 at 12:53 PM EDT

WASHINGTON — Western officials say there are signs that North Korea's unpredictable dictator may be gravely ill, after the man North Koreans call the "Dear Leader" apparently failed to show up at an important national celebration Tuesday.

Kim Jong Il's incapacity would have serious implications for the international effort to get North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons.

There was no sign of Kim at a closely watched parade Tuesday marking the 60th anniversary of North Korea's founding, and the country's state media was silent about his absence. His last reported public appearance was August 12.

"There is reason to believe Kim Jong Il has suffered a serious health set back, possibly a stroke," a Western intelligence official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Another official said rumors and reports of a possible health setback were based in part on intelligence gathered by other nations.

A senior U.S. official said rumors had been circulating for weeks about the state of Mr. Kim's health and his control over North Korea's highly centralized government.

That official said the United States has no independent confirmation that Mr. Kim is ill, but that Mr. Kim's absence lends credence to reports that he is suffering and may no longer be in a position to command the absolute authority he had wielded.

"What we do know is that he was not at the military parade," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity about the administration's internal assessment of the situation. "That is quite unusual and reinforces a lot of what we've been hearing."

All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive intelligence gathering.

In a broadcast monitored in Seoul, Korean Central Television showed North Korea's No. 2 leader and other officials atop a viewing stand on Tuesday. Mr. Kim was not shown.

The rumors began circulating in mid-August. Shortly thereafter, North Korea announced it was suspending the disablement of its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, a key step in abandoning its atomic weapons program that it agreed to take in negotiations with China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States.

North Korea's powerful military is known to have been opposed to the measure, and many analysts believed it was proceeding mainly due to Mr. Kim's support for the process and the backing of moderates in his foreign ministry.

When North Korean diplomats notified their U.S. counterparts of the suspension, they did so in a note that explained the move was being taken "due to pressure from the relevant agencies," according to people familiar with its contents.

Mr. Kim has held absolute power in the Stalinist regime, and the wording of the note set off alarms that his control over the disarmament scheme may be in question.

http://www.danharlow.com/blog/wp-con...im-jong-il.jpg

[Tchocky]

Good riddance.

[Debaser]

il is ill

[JokeyLoki]

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=627370

Kim Jong Il dead since 2003: author

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has been dead for years and replaced by a number of look-alikes, a Japanese academic claims.

North Korea expert Professor Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor of international relations, says Kim died of diabetes in 2003 and has been substituted by up to four body doubles ever since.

Driven by a fear of assassination, Kim allegedly trained his doppelgangers — one of whom underwent plastic surgery — to attend public appearances.

"Scholars don’t trust my reasoning but intelligence people see the possibility that it will turn out to be accurate," Fox News reported Professor Shigemura as saying.

"I have identified and pinned down every source."

Kim, 66, has not appeared in public for three weeks amid rumours he is seriously unwell.

While Seoul intelligence officials have said they believe he has diabetes and heart problems, they do not think he is near death.

But Professor Shigemura, from Tokyo's respected Waseda University, believes that Kim actually died sometime during a 42-day absence from public in September 2003.

He claims that whenever anyone is granted a face-to-face meeting with today's Kim, a senior official is always by his side "like a puppet master".

Professor Shigemura's claims, outlined in his book The True Character of Kim Jong-il, have been disputed by North Korean officials.


http://news.ninemsn.com.au/img/2007/...0809_kim_a.jpg
One of Kim Jong Il's 'doubles' in 2008 [left], and the 'real' Kim in 2003.

[frugalscotsman]

Mr. Kim has held absolute power in the Stalinist regime, and the wording of the note set off alarms that his control over the disarmament scheme may be in question.

so are the nuclear facilities up for grabs? maybe netphoria should invade

[Oklahoma Sexual]

he's busy with nuclear activities. who gives a fuck about a parade.

[alexthestampede]

LONG LIVE IL