Free Republic

Japanese Press Hot on the Kim Family's Trail A hitherto quiet residential area in Liebefeld district of Bern, Switzerland was swarming with Japanese reporters on Friday. The Japanese have been camped out here for several days since it became known that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's heir apparent Jong-un went to school here from 1998 until 2000. The Japanese press has also been following Kim's eldest son Jong-nam (38) in Macau and Beijing. Two Japanese TV stations recently succeeded in interviewing him. All three photos of Jong-un that have been confirmed as authentic so far were dug up by Japanese...

TOKYO (AFP) - US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) has rejected a passionate offer from North Korea (news - web sites)'s supreme leader Kim Jong-Il for direct talks between their countries, press reports in Japan said. The offer was conveyed to Bush by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who met Kim on May 22, during their talks Tuesday on the sidelines of the Group of Eight (G8) summit in the US state of Georgia, the reports said. "He (Kim) wanted to dance (with Bush) so much as to get thirsty," Koizumi told the US president in a...