Comments on: Kim Jong-il: Growing senile?

By: bender

bender — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 03:05:42 +0000

Team America is in Afghanistan and Iraq…and maybe Iran. Gotta call the People’s Liberation Army for help instead.

By: GI Korea

GI Korea — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:56:32 +0000

Puppet regime indeed. Where is Team America?

By: Aceface

Aceface — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 02:51:05 +0000

Tell you what,the dude can speak English,Mandarin and some Japanese.Could be a likely candidate for the future North Korea.

I think Kim just wants to keep distance from Roh after he saw the recent fake academic record scandal and the summit won’t gain any popularity for Roh.

By: ampontan

ampontan — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 02:31:54 +0000

China’s backing the oldest son? The one who was caught in Tokyo going to Disneyland?

Talk about a puppet regime!

By: GI Korea

GI Korea — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 01:48:18 +0000

There have been reports coming out all summer about Kim Jong-il’s health and the fact his oldest son returned from exile in Macau this summer as well has only wratched up the speculation.

http://rokdrop.com/2007/08/28/kim-jong-nam-back-in-pyongyang/

In fact last year China was even reportedly back his oldest son to take over as well.

http://rokdrop.com/2006/12/18/china-backs-kim-jong-nam-as-nk-successor/

All this specualtion could very well mean that he is suffering from some kind of sickness but there is no way to know if it is alzheimers or not. However, he is not meeting Roh at the airport for the summit and is allowing his second in command to handle the meeting with Roh. The only time Kim may meet Roh is at the propaganda festival they have set up for him with the children dancers.

This lack of interaction with Roh could be interpreted as meaning that he is not all that healthy right now.

By: Overthinker

Overthinker — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 23:57:29 +0000

Aceface – what I meant by that statement was just the the official leader is more of a façade or a puppet, not the full government system. That’s all. No direct connection, just a similar way of true power being behind the scenes with the leader more as a locus of patriotism and loyalty.

By: Aceface

Aceface — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 16:18:45 +0000

”Probably too used to Japanese Imperial-type rule”

I don’t think North Korea is run by pre-war Japanese style Imperial authoritalianism.I first read Gregory Henderson was mentioning that in forword of the Japanese translation of”Korea,The Politics of Voltex”,but I thought Juche ideoligy is a mixture of Stalinism and Mao cult from Cultural Revolution days and Korean style of confucianism.Anyway most of the follower of NK autocrat have never lived in colonial Korea nor Imperial Japan.Those who acted as communist or independence activist in Japan and colonial Korea had been purged in the 50’s and 60’s.So anyone who has first hand experience of Japanese emperor worship ideology were gone long before Kim Jong Il got to the power.
I think the foreigners had been influenced too much with the resemblence they see in war time allied propaganda film on Imperial Japan and current North Korean propaganda television.

By: Overthinker

Overthinker — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 23:22:42 +0000

It’s a cheap shot, but “starting” to suffer from dementia?

Also I am slightly suspicious of claims that Kim is actually allowed to rule. Probably too used to Japanese Imperial-type rule, but I can’t help feeling that Kim’s main role is to act as a deity and focus of nationalism while the people and groups his father put in power wield the actual reins of government.