Posted on 01/11/2006 10:16:24 PM PST by Royal Wulff
Beijing - North Korean leader Kim Jong II has disappeared in China. His luxurious special train which reportedly crossed the border into China Tuesday morning at Dandong was nowhere to be found Wednesday.
'We really would like to know where he is, but we simply don't have a clue,' said a South Korean military attache, who added he felt he was left in the lurch by his own intelligence services.
Although the train was seen travelling in the direction of Beijing by officials at two railway stations, Kim did not show up in the Chinese capital, sparking a torrent of speculation.
Some wondered whether Kim had only travelled through China on his way to Russia - a scenario 'almost ruled out' by one South Korean diplomat, given the fact that a direct rail connection exists between the North Korean capital Pyongyang and Moscow.
South Korean news agency Yonhap said it learned that the despotic North Korean leader had overcome his deep-rooted fear of flying and had flown to Shanghai, without explaining why his personal train would be travelling across China without him.
'He's not in Beijing at any rate,' the diplomat said confidently.
Instead of visiting Shanghai or Beijing, Kim Jong Il would do better to get to Macao as quickly as possible, observers joked, referring to an investigation into North Korean deposits in a bank in the southern Chinese enclave formerly administrated by Portugal.
In 1999, Macao was reintegrated into China as an autonomous region with special status. Macao is famous not only for its casinos and its mafia but also as a stomping ground for shadowy characters from North Korea. It's no coincidence there is a direct flight to Macao from Pyongyang. Investors from Macao even run a casino in the heart of the Stalinist state.
Kim Jong II's financial problems began in September when the United States took punitive measures against Macao's Banco Delta Asia, which allegedly helped North Korea distribute counterfeit U.S. dollars. The U.S. authorities are said to have seized fake U.S. bank notes produced by North Korea estimated at 45 million dollars.
The U.S. Treasury Department in September banned any deals by U.S. banks with Banco Delta Asia. The bank closed all accounts belonging to North Koreans, including accounts belonging to 20 banks, 11 trading firms, and 9 individuals, the Washington Post reported.
An investigation by Macao authorities into the bank triggered a rush on deposits and the Macao government had to take over the bank. Banco Delta Asia is believed to have managed substantial amounts of money for the family of Kim Jong Il. The sanctions would mean these stashes have dried up.
The U.S. also froze the assets of eight North Korean companies suspected of involvement in the proliferation of technology used for weapons of mass destruction.
The measures struck at the heart of the North Korean regime. The U.S. wanted to destroy the North Korea system with the sanctions 'by stopping its blood flow', the North Korean foreign ministry complained bitterly.
If the sanctions were not lifted, North Korea would not rejoin six-party talks on its nuclear programme with the U.S., China, South Korea, Japan and Russia, the ministry said, raising the stakes.
As host of the talks, China is worried that these 'new, complicated factors' might impede the resumption of the talks originally scheduled for the beginning of this year.
Experts said Kim probably hoped to discuss the sanctions and his financial predicament with China's government during his surprise secret visit. But he may find little understanding.
'We support the investigation by the authorities in Macao,' said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan. China firmly opposed money laundering or other illegal activities, he stressed, adding possible criminal offences would be dealt with 'according to the law'.
Maybe the Chinese government got sick of him themselves and eliminated him.
Interesting though. Any large chemical transport train cars explosions reported yet??
It just shows how close, aligned and coordinated the Chinese and N. Korean communist regimes still are.
And she found it from another blog which she cites.
Apparently, the train is on a one way track and can't find a place to turn around..
Or maybe someone was trying to bweak his bawrs.
Maybe he just stopped to play some golf. I hear he shoots in the low 30's
Kim NJong Ils' regime on the brink of complete collapse?
Soooo......Who's next in line?
Fourth post? What took so long?
Looks like we're waging financial war against Kim. Wouldn't it be interesting if Kim and Assad in Syria got run off simultaneously?
Wonder how the NYT would spin that? Probably say those regions were now dangerously destabilized and it's Bush's fault.
Some wondered whether Kim had only travelled through China on his way to Russia - a scenario 'almost ruled out' by one South Korean diplomat, given the fact that a direct rail connection exists between the North Korean capital Pyongyang and Moscow.
Wrong rail gage.
FOX was reporting tonight that Putin is meeting with Kim - that's all the detail they gave. So .. maybe this "disappearance" is a ruse in order for the Russian/North Korean meeting to be more secret.
But .. if they wanted it secret - it's not anymore.
self ping
Easy enough to change the undercarriage. I remember it being done at the border between Spain and France when I was a teenager.
-ccm
I don't think I'd be surprised with any of the various speculations coming true...
And to add to them: Wouldn't be surprised if he were secretly meeting with Ahmadinejad and/or Zarquwai (or Osama, but I beleive him to be long dead).
Anyway, I'm 
over this...
And hoping that Li'l Kim will never be seen or heard from again.
Spain and france? hmmmm.
On a lighter note, the US standard is just wide enough for two horses' a$$e$...old joke, but true. LOL.
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