North Korea’s “dear leader”, Kim Jong-il, has life-threatening cancer, South Korean media claimed today, prompting fears for the country’s long-term stability. The reports came days after images appeared of the 67-year-old looking gaunt in a rare public appearance, increasing speculation that his health was worsening after a reported stroke last year.
Seoul’s YTN television channel reported that Kim had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, citing unidentified intelligence officials in South Korea and China as saying the illness was threatening his life. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said it could not confirm the report, and a unification ministry spokesman, Chun Hae-sung, told reporters he knew nothing of the claims. US officials contacted by Reuters were unable to comment. Tensions on the peninsula have been running high in recent months, since the North’s nuclear and missile tests, making the stability of the regime a more pressing issue than ever.
While he looked thin and limped slightly, analysts said his attendance sent out the message that he was still in charge. Daniel Pinkston, a senior analyst and expert on North Korea at the International Crisis Group, warned that Japanese media had floated many rumours about Kim’s health. He pointed out that the subject was so sensitive that a specific diagnosis of illness seemed “a little odd”, adding: “This kind of information would not be shared easily or casually.”
Kim – celebrated in North Korea for accomplishments such as hitting 11 holes-in-one in the first round of golf he ever played – took power in 1994. But while he took over the military National Defence Commission and the Workers’ party, he did not become president, instead naming his late father as “eternal leader”.
11 holes in one?….Uh-huh. Now where did I put the BS Meter?!?!?
I hit 12, but I don’t brag about it.
What a shame
Such a decent person who has done nothing but good in his life and spread his good fortune and generosity among his people and for the good of mankind
Considering that he is considered a god in North Korea, my question is — why only 11?
“Insert” sex joke here.
il, 11 ???
Coincidence?
Hellsa waitin’ Kimmie!
He had a stroke. That would account for the weight loss.
I would not wish that on anyone, well except him.
The irony is, Kim Jong-Il is also the greatest surgeon in the world – and he’s the only person qualified to perform surgery that would cure him.
#9
He always has the option to abduct “2nd rate” doctors to help him however.
Pancreatic cancer is almost always fatal and very painful. I fear this lunatic while he is on pain killers.
Maybe America could send him a cure. Special delivery via a cruise missile. Just write his name on the nose cone so he’ll know it’s for him.
They should just call him prison warden Kim Jong-Il.
Can’t believe people would wish bad things on the legitimate leader of a foreign country that hasn’t attacked us.
MikeN…there are just a couple people on the planet who deserve pancreatic cancer and all the pain that goes with it. Kim Jong-Il is one of them.
Pancreatic cancer eh?
My money is that him and Steve Jobs did a face transplant (ie Face Off) and KJI is now running apple, after all, that company seems to have the same concern and values its customers as NK does to its populace.
…No, still can’t look at Kim Jong Il without thinking about his lonely, lonely lifestyle.
“North Korea’s “dear leader”, Kim Jong-il, has life-threatening cancer, South Korean media claimed today, prompting fears for the country’s long-term stability.”
that is the funniest line i’ve heard!
The man truly inspires awe.
He has not hurt the US, has he? Why all the hatred? Can’t we celebrate his “diversity”???
They’re rewriting history. When I first heard of his golf prowess it was because his first score was 38 under with only 5 holes in one. On a 7700 yard course no less.
I thought I read somewhere that he scored a perfect 18, but I can’t find the story now.
I’d like to score an ace on him with about 10 megatons.
Seoul’s YTN television channel reported that Kim had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer
Don’t get my hopes up!
11 holes in 1? Don’t believe it.
Part the oceans? Now that’s a different story.
Il is illin’.
So, here’s the plan:
First we send Steve Jobs over to help him out with his cancer. Then we send Tiger Woods over to help him out with his golf game.
Wait a minute: This guy’s only about 3 feet tall … miniature golf, anyone?
No person is illegal.
We all deserve the right to marry Kim Jong Il.
Kim Jong Il is the solution, not the problem.
For once Kim Jong Il is no longer the only fat man in North Korea.
A little compassion guys it’s tough to be a great world leader, He’s so ronery..
http://dailymotion.com/video/xhve8_team-america-im-so-ronery_fun
North Korea seems to suffer from a classic Napoleon Complex. Looking across the most fiercely guarded border in the world, surely they can see that if hostilities resumed, they would have little hope of prevailing. China plainly has little appetite any more for backing N. Korea’s adventurism. So their best hope for survival, as they see it, lies in nuclear weapons. Apparently they now possess these, a few anyway. Next, of course, is a way of delivering these weapons, thus their emphasis lately on developing and testing ballistic missiles. So far the results have been unimpressive, but the thought of how Pyongyang would behave if they could realistically threaten Seoul, Tokyo and possibly Shanghai, Beijing and Taipei, Alaska and Hawaii, gives the rest of the world the willies.
At the same time, they appear to be trying to engage us — a recent news story said the two journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling from CurrentTV who were arrested on North Korea’s northern border and convicted of “hostile acts” have not been shipped off to a labor camp, as expected, but kept at a resort, leading to speculation that they may be willing to negotiate for the women’s release.
It is odd how Communism, supposedly based on exalting the proletariat, has so often given rise to “Exalted Leaders,” with huge state resources devoted to creating cults of personality around them. Equally oddly, the rest of the world seems to fall for this, with enemies ridiculing the hero and allies praising him. Thus, we in the Western world know Kim Jong Il mainly through these stories of golf course heroism and rumors of terminal diseases.
Meanwhile, I don’t know why the U.S. refuses to talk directly to North Korea, insisting on the six-sided talks that seemed to be bearing fruit until late last year. Why did they suddenly shut them down? Was it due to Kim’s illness? There’s too much we just don’t know.
Uncle Pat,
I don’t know why the U.S. refuses to talk directly to North Korea, insisting on the six-sided talks that seemed to be bearing fruit until late last year. Why did they suddenly shut them down?
My guess is that Bush was playing the tough guy and didn’t want to be the only bully. He hopes that China and Russia would help calm NK.
As for shutting them down, have you ever tried to have an intelligent discussion with Alfred1 or Patrick?