Word: ils
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Despite rumors of Kim Jong Il's demise--specifically, of getting shot in the head by his nephew--the North Korean leader appears to be intact but as mystifying as ever. According to the Korean Central News Agency, the Dear Leader visited an army unit last week not only to hear soldiers recite poetry but also to present the young bards with gifts of automatic rifles. (Note to Kim: Fire your event planners.) But as reports trickle in from the hermetic communist kingdom that Kim's portraits are disappearing from public buildings, there are other signs the dictator is facing...
...will be able to achieve any results negotiating with the [current North Korean] government," influential politician Shinzo Abe said last week on TV. Meanwhile, one theory on why Kim's portrait no longer hangs next to his dead father's is that the son of "Eternal President" Kim Il Sung is slowly dialing back the regime's cult of personality to lay the groundwork for further reforms. Maybe Kim shouldn't sack that p.r. team after all. --By Julie Rawe. With reporting by Matthew Forney and Donald Macintyre
Pork-Packed Budget Plus: Rebels resume attacks in Sudan; North Korea's Kim Jong Il resurfaces...
...were assigned a "leader" who watched their every move, listened to their conversations and constantly threatened them. They were forced to study propaganda 10 hours a day, six days a week, and memorize it in Korean. (To this day, Jenkins can recite lengthy propaganda monologues: "The Great Leader Kim Il Sung taught ...") There were frequent exams. If any of the men failed one, they would all be forced to increase their study to 16 hours a day, every...
...days a month. There were about 30 students in each class. "They wanted us to teach them American pronunciation," he says, a prospect that seems amusing considering many Americans would have trouble deciphering Jenkins' thick accent. Often the text consisted of translated utterances by Kim Il Sung, who became the North's first leader in 1948, when Korea split into two countries, and remained in power until his death in 1994. The classes studied the guerrilla fighters who took on Japanese soldiers during World War II and discussed the "news" students had heard that morning on state-controlled radio...