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| China-Japan-Koreas | |
| Kim's health slipping, South Korean MP says | |
| 2006-09-08 | |
 North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's health has worsened and he can no longer walk normally, a South Korea legislator said yesterday. Liver and heart problems and worsening diabetes are to blame for the reclusive communist leader's difficulty in walking, opposition legislator Chung Hyung-keun said at a party meeting, according to his office. He said Mr. Kim went to Beijing for treatment in January.
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| Posted by:Fred |
| #12 One 'problem' with dynasties is that eventually the various grandsons, brothers, nephews etc. get to spending all their time bumping each other off and jockeying for position on the succession list. Oh, and inbreeding to boost the odds of their line being the winning line. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2006-09-08 10:18 |
| #11 Eating to much rich grass too quickly. Check his toenails - I'm better he's foundered. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-09-08 07:42 |
| #10 Shortening this up: "Yu seen one Kim, yu seenum all. |
| Posted by: Phineter Thraviger1073 2006-09-08 03:13 |
| #9 Does the regime get passed along[?] Actually, yes. North Korea enjoys the peculiar distinction (among many), of being a dynastic Stalinist regime with its own line of succession. Kim Jr. (Kim Jong-chul), a Clapton fan no less, is waiting in the wings to continue the bold legacy of starvation and cannibalism begun by his father. Jong-chul belongs to the third generation of Kims, who are being groomed to continue ruling North Korea once Dear Leader Kim Jong-il is gone from the scene. And if his interests are anything to go by, change may be in the air once he or one of his brothers takes over. Jong-chul is fluent in English and German, possibly also in French, and according to the South Korean daily Chosun Ilbo, he "makes frequent trips to France and other European countries as a member of Pyongyang's delegation to UNESCO [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization] under the alias of Kim Chol-song". To ensure the continuity of the present regime - and the Kims' grip on power - a successor may soon be named, sources in South Korea suggest. Kim Jong-il turned 64 on February 15, a year older than his father, the Great Leader Kim Il-sung, was when he nominated him as the successor. Kim Il-sung died 20 years later, in 1994, and Kim Jong-il ascended to power in Pyongyang. It is, of course, almost impossible to predict what is going to happen in North Korea - and the actual role of the country's First Family - and there are nearly as many speculations as there are observers of the political scene in this hermetically sealed and secretive country. But as far as family matters go, Kim Jong-il is known to have seven children - four daughters and three sons - with four wives and mistresses. The North Koreans themselves detest the use of the word "dynasty", and even foreign residents in Pyongyang say it is simplistic to look at the country's power structure in terms of dynastic tendencies. But if it is not a dynasty, it is at least a very powerful clan, and it is hard to believe that Kim Jong-il's successor would be an outsider and not one of his own sons. Kim Jong-il's first wife is believed to be Hong II-chun, whom he married in 1966. She was later appointed vice minister of education and a delegate to the Supreme People's Assembly. They are supposed to have had a daughter, Kim Hye-suk, who is now in her mid-30s. Kim Jong-il then took a mistress, Song Hye-rim, who was five years older than he and an actress of the Korean Art Film Studio. She bore him a son, Kim Jong-nam, in 1971. In order for him not to grow up alone, Song's niece, Lee Nam-ok, was called into Kim Jong-il's heavily guarded residence in Pyongyang. She was only 13 when she went to live with Jong-nam, a lonely child who was not allowed to go out and play with other children. An interview Lee Nam-ok gave much later - in February 1998 - to the Japanese magazine Tokyo Bungei Shunju is one of the few available accounts of the Kim family's private life. She describes Jong-nam as "totally submissive to his father" and says that he "never criticized what Kim Jong-il decided for him". Lee's own life in the Kim residence was that of "a princess who was not allowed to go out of her castle, which was far removed from the realities of the lives of ordinary North Korean people". (More |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-09-08 02:24 |
| #8 Hear hear!!! Nothing as sad as seeing a man dieing(sp?) of diabetes as his nation starves. Feh. What happens after he dies? Does the regime get passed along, or does this asshat go out with a bang to further his legacy? |
| Posted by: Thoth 2006-09-08 01:06 |
| #7 He is going to die, just like (IN)Fidel castro. Have fun down there, boys. I AM sure Hitler awaits your personal welcome wagon. When I AM done with your buddies, I shall be sure to ensure YOU(TM) are not alone, you child molester. |
| Posted by: newc 2006-09-08 01:02 |
| #6 Liver and heart problems and worsening diabetes are to blame for the reclusive communist leader's difficulty in walking and thinking too, apparently. But it's hard to imagine his thinking getting any worse than it already was. The toast: Kim Jong-Ill: "To cirrhosis of the liver!" Rest of the planet (except Iran/Syria): "Hear, hear!" |
| Posted by: gorb 2006-09-08 01:00 |
| #5 Spavins? Does that mean he won't run in the Kentucky Derby neaxt year, Fred? I think the graphic is the more correct diagnosis. |
| Posted by: GK 2006-09-08 00:58 |
| #4 One word: Rabies. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-09-08 00:55 |
| #3 roreeness... |
| Posted by: Thoth 2006-09-08 00:53 |
| #2 Spavins? |
| Posted by: Abdominal Snowman 2006-09-08 00:43 |
| #1 He's been drinking the Iranian aids cure. |
| Posted by: Thoth 2006-09-08 00:41 |