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Post by Admin on Oct 9, 2014 22:43:43 GMT
When young Kim Jong Un emerged in late 2011 to assume leadership of North Korea—after his father, Kim Jong Il died—the outside world knew little about him (as befitting a new leader of the country known as the Hermit Kingdom.) He had spent a few years of his boyhood at a boarding school in Switzerland and was said to be a fan of NBA basketball—Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in particular. (He has since hosted a member of that team, the pierced up Dennis Rodman, in Pyongyang for exhibition games.) What was entirely unclear was whether he could actually be in charge of what is arguably the world’s most despotic regime, or whether he would be a frontman—perhaps for the military, or perhaps for his powerful uncle, a man named Jang Song Taek. Those concerns were in a manner of speaking laid to rest when Kim had Jang assassinated—according to rumors, he had his corpse fed to a pack of attack dogs. Now, again, the rumor mill out of Pyongyang stirs. And the question of the day is, Where’s Waldo? Young Kim, now 31, hasn’t been seen in public in nearly a month. This, despite the recent convening of an important parliamentary session of the country’s ruling party—the Korean Worker’s party (WPK)—which Kim normally would attend. In his absence there has also been a scrap at sea off the peninsula’s west coast with South Korea: North Korean naval vessels allegedly crossed the so called Northern Limit Line, which sets the maritime border between the two countries and drew gunfire from South Korean ships. The North returned fire and then retreated. And during his period of absence, evidence has emerged of a new chilliness in relations with China, ostensibly Pyongyang’s only ally. The most widespread rumor in both South Korea and China is that Kim is recovering from surgery. He is said to have gout, a painful joint ailment that often afflicts the overweight. That would include Kim, who has put on considerable poundage since succeeding his father, ostensibly to look more like his grandfather, WPK founder Kim Il Sung (to whom Jong Un does bear a striking resemblance.) Kim is now said to weigh nearly 280 pounds, which at 5 feet 10 inches tall makes him more suitable to play nose tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers than power forward for his beloved Chicago Bulls. In North Korea, the supreme leader is known as suryong—a sort of demigod who isn’t supposed to come down with earthly ailments like gout. To be hobbling around on crutches for several weeks doesn’t do wonders for the old image of omnipotence. Ergo, Kim’s a short-term shut in until he recovers. The more conspiratorial scenario is that there has been a coup in Pyongyang and Kim Jong Un is no longer in charge. He has been supplanted, according to this rumor, by men who control one of the most shadowy and most powerful organizations in the country, the so called “organization and guidance department” (OGD). The OGD controls all the appointments of all the senior positions throughout the ruling party, and as such, says Jang Jin Sung, a prominent North Korean defector, “it is the entity that controls everything. This is where all roads end, all chains of command and all power structures go.” Other rumors say that a man named Choe Ryong Hae—who appears virtually unknown outside of the North—now runs the OGD, and that he is now the head of a “third power” that has taken over. According to this scenario, Beijing—Pyongyang’s ultimate patron—was infuriated when Jong Un had Jang Song Taek (who himself had run once been the deputy director of OGD) killed. China, as this version of the story goes, counted on Jang as a steady hand and senior party officials in Beijing pushed leaders in Pyongyang to move Jong Un aside. It is very possible that all this is overheated speculation. Hwang, who visited South Korea last week for the Asian Games, told his hosts that there was nothing awry in the North. Analysts also note that the WPK has gone ahead with meetings with Japan in Shenyang, China—meetings encouraged by Beijing—in order to try to resolve the issue of Japanese citizens who had been kidnapped over the years by the North. To some it seems unlikely that these meetings would have proceeded if the North were engulfed in a leadership crisis.
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Post by Admin on Oct 12, 2014 22:49:51 GMT
The mysterious disappearance of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un from public view for the last 35 days fueled wide speculation that he was ill or the victim of a possible coup, but a senior U.S. intelligence official calls the rumors false, and a Reuters source insists he’s “in total control.” After weeks of unexplained absences, chatter on Kim’s whereabouts reached a fever pitch after he was conspicuously not on a list of dignitaries at an anniversary celebration of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party Friday. An official state media dispatch listed senior government, military and party officials who paid their respects at the event marking the party's 69th anniversary, but not Kim. It said a flower basket with Kim's name on it was placed before statues of his father and grandfather, both of whom also ruled North Korea. In the past two years, Kim marked the anniversary with a visit to the Pyongyang mausoleum where his father and grandfather’s bodies are interred. Kim also missed a meeting of the country's parliament late last month, leaving many to wonder whether the leader was ill or no longer in power. State media earlier said that the might of the party "is growing stronger under the seasoned guidance of Marshal Kim Jong Un." But Reuters reported Friday that Kim was still in firm control of his government, according to a source with access to the secretive North's leadership. That source suggested Kim has been sidelined with a leg injury after taking part in a military drill. "He ordered all the generals to take part in drills and he took part too. They were crawling and running and rolling around, and he pulled a tendon," the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity. He injured his ankle and knee around late August or early September while drilling because he is overweight. He limped around in the beginning but the injury worsened," the anonymous source added. National Security Council spokesman Patrick Ventrell told reporters Friday that the U.S monitors events in North Korea very closely. “We have seen those same reports about Kim Jong Un’s health. I don’t have anything for you on that. Given that the DPRK regime is the most opaque on earth, it’s not surprising that there is very little reliable and publicly available information about this. Regarding rumors of a coup, as we have said previously, those appear to be false,” Ventrell said. Geoffery Cain wrote in The Global Post that some analysts believe the leader's younger sister, Kim Yo Jong has been running the country in his absence. "She is one of the only people in that we know has unfettered direct access to KJU. At the present time I would not be surprised if she is sole gatekeeper," Michael Madden, who runs the North Korea Leadership Watch blog, told Cain. The article points out that little is known about the sister, believed to be born in the late 80s, but in March she appeared on state television as a senior official.
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Post by Admin on Oct 13, 2014 22:49:43 GMT
North Korea says Kim Jong-un pictures show leader back in action http:// North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un made his first public appearance in five weeks on Tuesday, the country’s official news agency reported, ending a prolonged absence that fueled speculation about his health and control over the country. Korean Central News Agency said Kim “gave field guidance” on Tuesday at the newly built Wisong Scientists Residential District. The agency also said that earlier in the day, Kim “visited the newly built Natural Energy Institute of the State Academy of Sciences.” Kim had last been seen in the state media five week ago at a Sept. 3 concert, and he missed several high-profile events that he normally attends. An official documentary released late last month then made a single reference to Kim’s “discomfort” and showed video footage from August of him overweight and limping. The KCNA report Tuesday made no mention of Kim’s health, only detailing his comments about the construction projects. At the tour of the residential district, Kim praised the North’s scientists as “patriots who are devoting all their lives to building a rich and powerful nation, convinced that though there is no frontier in science, they have a socialist motherland and are under the care of the mother party.” No unusual troop movements or other signs of a possible coup emerged during his absence. Diplomacy at the highest level continues: Three members of his inner circle made a surprise visit to the South, something analysts say would be impossible without the leader’s blessing. Foreign tourists and aid workers still travel to the North, and there have been no reports of new restrictions or warnings for diplomats. There’s also nothing particularly unusual about North Korean leaders laying low for extended periods. Kim’s late father, Kim Jong Il, no fan of the limelight in his later years, would disappear at times; Kim Jong Un, who seems to genuinely like being at the center of things, took off without a word for three weeks in 2012. But the apparent vanishing act of a man long seen in foreign media as a cartoonish, all-powerful overlord sitting on a nuclear arsenal while his people starve proved endlessly fascinating. And while there is plenty of informed analysis from experts and frequent visitors to Pyongyang, there seems to be even more thinly sourced speculation.
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Post by Admin on Oct 21, 2014 22:43:25 GMT
North Korea has abruptly freed U.S. citizen Jeffrey Fowle, one of three Americans detained by the reclusive nation. But Pyongyang continues to hold the other two in custody. U.S. officials announced Tuesday that Fowle left North Korea and is heading home. Fowle, who arrived in North Korea on a tourist visa, was arrested earlier this year after leaving a Bible in a North Korean restaurant and bar. He was never put on trial and his family has denied charges that he traveled to the country on a church-related mission. U.S. officials welcomed Fowle's release. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said there is continued concern about the two Americans who remain in custody. “We remain focused on the continued detention of Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller, and again call on the DPRK to immediately release them,” said Harf. She said Fowle has been evaluated by a doctor and appears to be in good health. Miller was sentenced to six years of hard labor after being convicted of “hostile” acts against North Korea. Bae received a 15-year prison sentence, also for “hostile” acts. Washington announced Fowle's release even before his family's attorney had been notified. "We are overwhelmed with excitement but still want complete confirmation," attorney Timothy N. Tepe said in a statement. Earnest said the Defense Department had provided transportation to Fowle on a schedule that the North had specified. He said Sweden had helped facilitate Fowle's release. The U.S. doesn't have formal diplomatic relations with North Korea. Harf said Fowle was on his way home to his family. "We welcome the DPRK's decision to release him," she said in a statement, using the abbreviation for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
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Post by Admin on Oct 28, 2014 22:38:50 GMT
South Korea’s spy agency said Tuesday it has solved the mystery of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s six-week public absence, which set off a frenzy of wild speculation around the world. The National Intelligence Service told legislators that a foreign doctor operated on Kim in September or October to remove a cyst from his right ankle, according to Park Byeong-seok, an aide for opposition lawmaker Shin Kyung-min. After last being seen in state media on Sept. 3, Kim reappeared on Oct. 14 hobbling with a cane, but smiling and looking thinner. The speculation during his absence was particularly intense because of the Kim family’s importance to impoverished, nuclear-armed North Korea. The family has ruled the country since its founding in 1948. Lim Dae-seong, an aide to ruling party lawmaker Lee Cheol-woo, who also attended the briefing, said the spy agency identified Kim’s condition as tarsal tunnel syndrome. The syndrome, which is often painful, is caused by the compression of a nerve, sometimes because of a cyst. Surgery is generally seen as a last resort after other treatments are unsuccessful. The syndrome, which is often painful, is caused by the compression of a nerve, sometimes because of a cyst. Surgery is generally seen as a last resort after other treatments are unsuccessful. No weight should be put on the foot for 10 days after an operation, and an improvement in symptoms may take two to three months, according to the website of the NYU Langone Medical Center's Department of Neurosurgery. It wasn't immediately clear how the information about Kim's condition was obtained by the spy agency, which has a spotty track record of analyzing developments in opaque North Korea.
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