Word: ils
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...these rumors and suspicions--North Korea's Dear Leader was unpredictable and goofy, and because he was thought to control a nuclear weapons program on one side of the world's most fortified border, he was dangerous. Fast forward to last week's summit in Pyongyang. When Kim Jong Il, still pudgy, and still wearing a poufy black hairdo, reached out with both hands to welcome South Korean President Kim Dae Jung, the makeover of the madman image was complete. The 58-year-old leader of the world's most mysterious country had been transformed into a fellow who could...
When Kim Jong Il succeeded his father as leader of North Korea six years ago, he was lampooned by the rest of the world as a pudgy playboy who drank cognac while his countrymen barely subsisted, many of them reduced to eating roots. He favored James Bond and Daffy Duck in his collection of some 20,000 videotapes. He was a lush who once showed up at a meeting so drunk that his father had him thrown out. Nobody had heard him utter anything more than "Glory to the heroic Korean People's Army!" He had a Howard Hughes-like...
...there was one thing that most Korea watchers felt they knew for sure, it was that the comfort of a South Korean President was not on the list of things Kim Jong Il cared about. But that was the old Kim. The new one is a masterwork of political repositioning. Part spin, part smarts and all opportunism, Kim 2.0 is an impressive creation, an example of a 180-degree image shift that was achieved in near Internet time--hardly something anyone would have expected from Pyongyang, where cell phones are as uncommon as Cokes...
...what end? There was little to fault in the way Kim Jong Il comported himself at the summit (although commentators in Seoul wryly noted that during one of the celebrations he slung back 10 glasses of wine to five for President Kim). As the euphoria fades, however, the reality checks have begun. Some observers warn that this could be yet another North Korean plot, elaborately staged to make the South let down its guard. On the other hand, if Pyongyang is sincere, what next? The agreement signed by the two Kims is skimpy on details. Reuniting separated families...
...important to have more talks with the South Koreans on the North-South summit. According to the descriptions of this summit, [Kim Jong Il] is quite different from what we thought. Rather than being standoffish or secretive or opaque, he apparently was very jovial and friendly and knowledgeable about various issues in South Korea as well as generally. People were surprised. He enjoyed showing that he was different from what people thought he was. I think that he is reaching out. We are very pleased that the summit took place. So I need to assess it. We're all fascinated...