Has anybody seen Kim Jong Il lately? Seriously. A recent photo? A public speech? I heard rumors that he was killed or badly wounded in the April 2004 train explosion. In November 2004 came reports of his posters starting to disappear. In January 2005 there was an unprecedented report of his posters being defaced in protest. And last week I stumbled across this: Kim Jong-il's Second Son to Inherit Dictatorial Mantle.
North Korea is constantly in the news because of its never-ending cycle of nuclear blackmail (which our politicians help perpetuate), but there are never reports about Kim. Where is he?
Some articles on the topic from last year:
From FrontPageMagazine in December 2004: Kim Jong-il, Missing in Action?.
From The Washington Times in November 2004: Analysis: Mystery still swirls around Kim Jong Il.
UPDATE -- Sept. 27: Martin Lindeskog noted this Taipei Times article from two days ago: Kim Jong-il orders high-level meetings with US officials. But there are no direct quotes from Kim; it's all "reportedly instructed aides" and "citing an anonymous source."
UPDATE -- Oct. 17: TIME magazine visits North Korean, but there's no mention of seeing Kim: Pyongyang Peekholes: Looking for Life Beyond the Kims.
Posted by Forkum at September 26, 2005 09:00 PM
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