Word: kim
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...welcoming ceremony was almost immediately flashed to eagerly awaiting networks and wire services around the world. Reason: the Premier was greeted by a man whose sudden and violent death had been widely rumored and, in some cases, reported as confirmed fact for two days. Yet there he was, Kim Il Sung, the "Great Leader," still paunchy and apparently hale at 74 after holding power in North Korea continuously since...
Reports of Kim's demise have surfaced several times over the years, but last week's spate of false rumors was the most bizarre episode yet. They originated, so South Korea claimed, with announcements made by North Koreans over loudspeakers along the 151-mile Demilitarized Zone that divides the two countries. The same rumors popped up independently in Peking, Hanoi and Tokyo, apparently before officials in Seoul began spreading the word. Until Kim's ceremonial airport appearance, the North Koreans did nothing either to dispel or confirm the story. Little could be made of their unresponsiveness...
While all accounts agreed that Kim was dead, explanations of how he met his demise varied wildly. In some versions, Kim was shot by mutinous army officers, who then fled to China. Others said the North Korean leader had been killed in a coup staged aboard a train, which happens to be Kim's favorite form of transportation. Most claimed that power had passed to Kim's son, Kim Jong Il, who indeed is his father's designated heir. One loudspeaker announcement and some other versions of the story had it that aging North Korean Defense Minister...
South Korean Opposition Leader Kim Dae Jung won about 45% of the vote for President in 1971, and ranks as a leading contender in elections to choose a successor to President Chun Doo Hwan, whose term expires in 1988. Last week Kim offered to jettison his longtime dream of occupying Seoul's Blue House, provided that the ruling Democratic Justice Party agreed to permit the direct election of the next President. Said Kim: "If I don't stand for the presidency in 1988, the government has no excuse to oppose direct elections...
...present indirect system of selecting the chief executive, but remains stubbornly opposed to fully democratic elections, which his military-dominated party would probably lose. Instead, he favors a parliamentary system, in which a Prime Minister would be selected on the basis of seats held in the National Assembly. Kim charges that any such election could be rigged in advance to split the opposition and assure the autocratic Chun's continued rule...