North Korean Leader Is Very Ill, U.S. Official Says

NYT ^ | 09/09/08 | MARK MAZZETTI and CHOE SANG-HUN

[TigerLikesRooster]

North Korean Leader Is Very Ill, U.S. Official Says

By MARK MAZZETTI and CHOE SANG-HUN

WASHINGTON — Kim Jong-il, North Korea’s leader, is seriously ill and is likely to have suffered a stroke weeks ago, American officials said Tuesday, raising the prospect of a chaotic power struggle in nuclear-armed North Korea.

Intelligence officials in Washington said that the exact status of Mr. Kim’s health was unclear, but that he failed to attend a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of North Korea and that American intelligence agencies believe that he is now under the care of doctors in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.

Mr. Kim’s health is a topic of intense interest among governments and security experts, especially because Western officials are unclear about who would succeed the man known as the “Dear Leader.”

[TigerLikesRooster]

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[xcamel]

“Dear Leader” now “Deer Carcass” ???

[GivemeaBREAK!]

Delayed reaction to dancing with Madelanne Albright, the deadly strain, rotting from the inside out and the outside in.

[AmericanInTokyo]

If he has a stroke, and is paralyzed, does he have the will or ability to issue the orders to a) begin nuke production activities anew; b) break the IAEA seals on his nuke plant which occured after he had the stroke?

OK who is calling the shots?

[Dumpster Baby]

It's been said before, and bears repeating........

rimshot

Kim Jong, Ill

/rimshot

[TigerLikesRooster]

Good question.

[SeeSharp]

All together now:

If you've had a meal and you know it clap your hands.
<CLAP> <CLAP>
If you're fed while peasants starve clap your hands.
<CLAP> <CLAP>
Jimmy Carter made a deal, but no Koreans got a meal.
If you've had a meal and you know it clap your hands.

[TigerLikesRooster]

LOL

[Natchez Hawk]

He’ll discover his own cure no doubt...

[AmericanInTokyo]

TLR, ping me if this is the serious news-reporting FR thread on KJI, or the "joke thread" with the same worn out Chia jokes with little analysis. I want to get on to the right thread and report in what I hear on an ongoing basis, if possible. I think I am on the right thread.

By the way, apologies for the Japanese chart, but here is the structure of the Kim Dynasty in terms of succession of the old coot:

You can see the one wife is listed as 死亡 (dead).

[TigerLikesRooster]

I think both are dead, one in Moscow(buried there, too,) and the other in France or Pyongyang.

[gaijin]

So...who’s most likely running the DPRK for now? Ideas?

[AmericanInTokyo]

photo obtained of the big ass parade in Pyongyang YESTERDAY, which Kim Jong il was a no-show at

[webschooner]

Kim Jong il is still dead ...

A heavily researched book recently out claiming the pot-bellied turd has been dead for several years, and that the rare appearances are look-alikes that were already employed before the Kommie turd assumed room temperature.

[Maverick68]

Prayers for the people of North Korea. Perhaps the person who takes his place will better care for his people.

[TigerLikesRooster]

I think his new (unofficial) wife is his personal care-taker right at the bedside. That give her power to influence the running of the government. However, military brass or top party officials may not dutifully follow her instruction.

[AmericanInTokyo]

brother (son) number #3 in my estimate. although Kim Jong Chol could get it but he would be made mincemeat of by the military or somebody else in no time flat. he’s just a KID who likes ERIC CLAPTON for pete’s sake. with nukes under his nicely manicured nails?

[gaijin]

Fatty is the one busted for Mission: Tokyo Disneyland, I recall. Pushed aside for some time in disgrace, I think.

[gaijin]

I saw a great film about DPRK recently. Everyone knows the one about the huuuuuuge hotel that is desolate, save for the ONE floor reserved for foreign visitors, right?

Well, the guy filmed outside the window, down into the street directly below. We start with a long, tight shot featuring Over a a smartly-dressed, DPRK female traffic cop, as she expertly snaps off traffic flow directions with her white sleeve-clad arms. We gain a sense of professionalism, and of a mostly unremarkable, busy city.

Then the cameraman slowly pans back, revealing that there has NEVER been a single car anywhere during her performance for the hotel rooms perched above.

The effect is surprising, puzzling, spooky, and then....profoundly disturbing.