from the Telegraph:
Prof Shigemura says Kim was not seen in public for the 42 days after September 10, 2003, and in his book “The True Character of Kim Jong Il” claims the man that North Koreans refer to as the “Dear Leader” died of diabetes.
We were sort of excited but then learned here that this recent attention to the claim is because of an article [subscription required] in Shukan Gendai, a trashy “news” magazine whose claim to fame is having published nude photos of gold medal-winning Romanian gymnasts in their official team leotards. [We realize that the preceding sentence doesn't make sense; but the whole shitstorm involved the uniforms and some nude photos, related, somehow.] The Independent also ran a story on KJI today (on which Yonhap reported), but is characteristically far less bullish (or, has far less bullshit):
Speculation was mounting last night over the health of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il. He has not been seen in public for more than three weeks, and, according to a source who has seen intelligence reports, five Chinese physicians entered North Korea about a week ago and are still there.
But our guess is that KJI is still alive and well, since we haven’t yet heard of any reports of a secret plane flight from North Korea to Cuba.
Tags: Kim Jong Il, North Korea