Category: Kremlinology

He’s not quite dead, alas: North Korean television, monitored in Seoul, showed photos of Kim holding talks with Wang and hosting a reception for the Chinese official. Dressed in his trademark Mao suit, Kim appeared a little thinner, but generally in good health in the pictures. KCNA and the North’s TV said Wang delivered a personal letter from Chinese President Hu Jintao to Kim, but did not elaborate. [AP, via IHT] Or at least, that’s what he wants us all...

This appears to be the most reliable confirmation we’ve seen yet, albeit coming from a man who’d previously denied all knowledge. This kind of situation calls for an amendment to the Hippocratic Oath — something along the lines of, “Do not heal those who would do harm to millions.”

Our first merry vigil of the day comes in the way of several reports, which I’ll just link and let you read on your own: – Kim Jong Il’s private train hasn’t moved for three months. – A senior NSC official confirms that Kim Jong Il probably had a stroke. – South Korea’s Defense Minister has raised media eyebrows with a reference to “diverse unstable factors” in North Korea.

So suggest the Japanese broadcasters of this video. While I’m not personally persuaded of its authenticity, you may find that it has some measure of aesthetic appeal. Kenji Fujimoto, who was Kim Jong Il’s exclusive sushi chef before escaping to write a book about it, claimed that Kim kept girls who danced for his entertainment, but who were not to be touched by anyone (even including Kim himself?). In his book “Rogue Regime,” Jasper Becker explains that there were actually...

No, I am not making this up. There’s no permlink to the story, but if you read Korean, you can read it here. The Monthly Chosun, quoting the South Korean intel leak ticker, is claiming that the Korean National Intelligence service, while doing electronic eavesdropping on North Korea last August, intercepted several encrypted electronic files being transmitted from Pyongyang to one Doctor Francois-Xavier Roux in France. It took three days to crack the encryption, at which point the intelligence officers...

[Update:  C’est pas vrais, says le docteur.] Every day seems to bring a new rumor about Kim Jong Il’s health, which is in itself a good thing if you consider the effect this must have on the cohesion between ambitious generals, party apparatchiks, and disgruntled young officers in a hungry year.  We know the rumors are circulating in North Korea, and it’s safe to assume that they’re just as contradictory inside North Korea as they are on Earth.  The difference...

Numerous international press reports say that Kim Jong Il made a public appearance at a soccer game, thus ending a long absence from public view.  The problem with those reports  is that all of them are  sourced back to  Radio Pyongyang and KCNA, which provided no details on where or when, and were not accompanied by photographs or video.