Word: jong
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Perhaps it was nothing more than wishful thinking by his many enemies, but the wildest rumor to sweep through Asian financial markets last week was that Kim Jong Il, North Korea's despotic leader, was shot in the head by his brother-in-law's son during a palace coup. Quickly dismissed as pure fantasy, the rumor of Kim's demise was merely the most extreme example of recent speculation regarding the fate of Kim's Stalinist regime...
...back home say it does not seem as if Kim's collapse is imminent. Pyongyang's closest ally, China, appears unworried. Vice Foreign Minister Wu Da-wei last week flatly denied that his country was massing troops at the border. Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue denied any knowledge that Kim Jong Il had been toppled and admonished the world to ignore "groundless reports and news" about North Korea. Kim was on the job as recently as Nov. 22, when he visited a unit of the Korean People's Army and listened to soldiers recite poetry, presenting the young bards with gifts...
...Frank suggests that trimming Kim Jong Il's personality cult could be a sign that the country is paving the way for economic reforms and possibly for a more collective form of leadership. If that's the case, then removing Kim's portraits from public places may be more a sign of strength than of weakness. Besides, the regime's ability to control its citizens appears undiminished. This summer, North Korea launched a sweeping crackdown on illegal bootleg videos of South Korean TV dramas now flooding into the country from China, according to North Korean defectors. In May, Kim took...
...extraordinary, is typical of A State of Mind, a new British documentary that offers an intimate look at the world's most shuttered society. As they chronicle the lives of two young gymnasts training to participate in the Mass Games?a stadium-sized patriotic spectacle staged to glorify Kim Jong Il?the filmmakers visit homes and classrooms, join family outings and even tag along on trips to the countryside...
...North Koreans are desperate for good publicity," says Aidan Foster-Carter, a Korea scholar at Leeds University in Britain. "Since they're incredibly bad at [p.r.] themselves, it makes sense to have foreigners do it for them." Director Daniel Gordon suggests that the project was authorized by Kim Jong Il himself. "Permission for something like this must have come from the very top," he says. Despite his unprecedented access, Gordon says that the government had "no editorial control or input," although when inside the country he and his film crew were accompanied everywhere by official "guides." The royal treatment...