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Eberstadt: Kim Jong Il Has Looked Better (Update: See for Yourself)

Never mind missiles or the U.N., says Nick Eberstadt. The real North Korea story is still Kim Jong Il’s health:

In the most recent official footage, undated but released late last month, North Korea’s leader looks like one of the beneficiaries of an extended stay in the Yodok political prison camp. In an alleged outing to a swimming pool at Kim Il Sung University, his signature belly is gone. Indeed, to judge by the picture, this sepulchral figure can barely weigh half as much as he did a few years ago. His Mao suit is ill-fitted and almost empty. His skin is practically hanging off his face. He is shown wearing huge face-concealing sunglasses favored by ailing Hollywood divas (think Elizabeth Taylor) while clutching the pool’s two siderails for support. [Nicholas Eberstadt, The Wall Street Journal]

Someone call Dr. Morell. As gratifying as I find the suffering of His Porcine Majesty, I’d be even more gratified to see it continued in the afterlife. Where’s Jack Kevorkian when you need him? And does he still issue those gift certificates?

Eberstadt also talks about the poor prospects for extending the dynasty, but I’ll let you read that on your own.

(Thanks to a reader for forwarding the link.)

Update: I found the photos Eberstadt is talking about, and no kidding — he (I mean Kim Jong Il, not Eberstadt) looks like death warmed over:

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See the whole set here, courtesy of Reuters.

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10 Responses

  1. yeah…that pic on the bottom is the one that i said in some other blog post here that it reminded me of my dad before he croaked…..so skinny…..can’t get his fingers around the pole without effort. looks like shit.

  2. I agree with James. Before my Dad passed away he looked similar to KJI. Skinny, skinny, skinny. He doesn’t have more than 9 months left. Change is coming to North Korea. What kind of change? Who really knows…

  5. The real tell tale sign here is that he is appearing in public without his platform shoes. What’s next? No Elvis pompadour?

  7. I fear the rumors of his (impending) death have been greatly exaggerated. As I wrote here, I think his weight loss and the recent semi-active pictures may be typical of a recovery from a life-threatening health issue. In the top picture above you can still see evidence his belly pudge and man boobs, and in the top picture of my link you can see he still has the belly pudge.

    If he had a GI tract issue and lost a lot of weight, that would be a more likely sign of impending demise (especially if the GI tract issue wasn’t fully resolved), but if he had successful treatment for a stroke or cardiovascular disorder, his weight loss might indicate very little in terms of his longevity prospects.

    I’m not saying this because I like the guy — if there were anyone in this world I wish would die, it would be him (along with his cronies). I’m just saying that despite these pictures, it would be wise to make plans for the possibility that he may still be around and in power, say, ten years from now. If he’s healthy enough to answer Beijing’s summons, then I’d say my speculative caution about declaring him dead is correct.

  8. Something I noticed yesterday while looking at a recent photo of Kim Jong-il is that he was pictured from the right. I recall that every post-stroke image shows him either from the right or from the front, and the front views are from far away. Maybe it’s just a coincidence or maybe there is evidence of permanent lateralized stroke damage from the left. People can live for years, even decades after a stroke, so that NYT pre-written obituary may need periodic updates before it ever gets published. I predict that a junta of sorts will take on increasing leadership from behind a curtain as Kim’s mental and physical health continue to decline.

  9. You may have a point, Songai. I was watching him on the video clip recently released of him at the NK Parliament… does anyone else think the left side of his face (that is, Kim’s left and not the left side as you look at him on the video) looks a little paralysed?

    His appearance there also makes it seem like a lot of the pictures that the regime has released since August are quite old, since he looks drastically thinner and greyer than he does on most of them.