News from the "Hermit Kingdom"

[Bikewer]

Over the last week, reports out of N. Korea have indicated that the Dear Leader is "ill", has not been seen in public, may be suffering from gout or perhaps alcoholism, or may have already been deposed.

This morning, there are reports of a surprise visit to the South by two top N.Korean leaders, essentially the # 2 and # 3 men in the regime, talking nicey-nice with the South.
Also news of a new round of negotiations between the two countries.

Interesting. Maybe they're tired of starving... or maybe it's more nice-guy/bad-guy role-playing.

 

[MG1962]

It seems something is up one way or another - The capitol has been locked down for the last 24 hours

 

[Delvo]

Wait... claims of his illness have actually come from NK, just not outside speculators?

 

[Craig B]

Wait... claims of his illness have actually come from NK, just not outside speculators?

They have. See http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/09/26/kim-jong-il-north-korea-i_n_5888022.html The Leader appears to be suffering from "discomfort". Whether that means an attack of gout or having his brains blown out by a junta of disgruntled generals is not yet clear.

 

[FromBelgiumWithLove]

They have. See http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/09/26/kim-jong-il-north-korea-i_n_5888022.html The Leader appears to be suffering from "discomfort". Whether that means an attack of gout or having his brains blown out by a junta of disgruntled generals is not yet clear.

From that site:

"Based on his gait, it appears he has gout - something (due to) diet and genetic predisposition that has affected other members of the Kim family," Michael Madden, an expert on the North Korea and contributor to the 38 North website told Reuters.

I wonder what expertise this alleged expert on North Korea possesses that allows him to diagnose someone with gout solely based on his "gait" in a video, and exclude the myriad of other reasons that might lead to someone walking that way. He must have some magical long-distance medical skills.

Personal anecdotal statement follows. A while back, through my own sheer clumsiness, I managed to seriously bruise my right hip. Until it healed, I walked funny too. Because if I moved my right leg in not just the right way, or put too much weight on it, it was very painful. Stairs were torture. At home, instead of walking, I sat down on the first step and moved myself up or down the stairs using only my functioning left leg and my arms. I wonder if anyone who'd bothered to watch me through that period would have concluded I had gout, too.

As other people have already brought up, it's all so eerily reminiscent of the kremlinologists of late, in the dying days of the Soviet Union. With hindsight, we know they pretty much never got anything right.

 

[MG1962]

I wonder what expertise this alleged expert on North Korea possesses that allows him to diagnose someone with gout solely based on his "gait" in a video, and exclude the myriad of other reasons that might lead to someone walking that way. He must have some magical long-distance medical skills.

Yeah its just a symptom of the media. Need to seem like experts on everything even when it is clear they have no way of knowing. I am clearly no expert but it did seem to me it was something wrong with his foot rather than his leg. He could have easily twisted his ankle, broken a toe on furniture, or cut his foot in an awkward place.

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Yeah its just a symptom of the media. Need to seem like experts on everything even when it is clear they have no way of knowing. I am clearly no expert but it did seem to me it was something wrong with his foot rather than his leg. He could have easily twisted his ankle, broken a toe on furniture, or cut his foot in an awkward place.

Naw. None of those. The voodoo doll I bought in Haiti is working perfectly. You just wait 'till I stick a pin in his *****.

 

[ddt]

I wonder what expertise this alleged expert on North Korea possesses that allows him to diagnose someone with gout solely based on his "gait" in a video, and exclude the myriad of other reasons that might lead to someone walking that way. He must have some magical long-distance medical skills.

To be fair, he added that gout runs in the family, and said it "appears" like gout. I haven't seen the video on question, but yes, I agree that a funny walk could have any number of causes.

Don't read the comments to the article; there's a stupid bint arguing that Henry VIII should be scrapped from the British history curriculum because it's too ugly.

 

[MG1962]

Naw. None of those. The voodoo doll I bought in Haiti is working perfectly. You just wait 'till I stick a pin in his *****.

**Hangs head** I did not even think of that