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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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 Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:35 pm Post subject: North Korea �uses doubles to hide death of Kim� |
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4692472.ece
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Is Kim Jong-il for real? The question has baffled foreign intelligence agencies for years but now a veteran Japanese expert on North Korea says the �dear leader� is actually dead � and his role is played by a double.
The expert says Kim died of diabetes in 2003 and world leaders including Vladimir Putin of Russia and Hu Jintao of China have been negotiating with an impostor.
He believes that Kim, fearing assassination, had groomed up to four lookalikes to act as substitutes at public events. One underwent plastic surgery to make his appearance more convincing. Now, the expert claims, the actors are brought on stage whenever required to persuade the masses that Kim is alive.
The author has been derided by rival analysts of the hermetic communist state. Yet so few facts are known about North Korea�s ruling dynasty that some of the strange things reported in Professor Toshimitsu Shigemura�s bestselling book cannot be readily explained.
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�Scholars don�t trust my reasoning but intelligence people see the possibility that it will turn out to be accurate,� he said. �I have identified and pinned down every source.�
The book, The True Character of Kim Jong-il, cites sources from inside North Korea and from the intelligence services of Japan and South Korea.
One of its principal claims is that a voiceprint analysis of Kim�s speech at a 2004 meeting with Junichiro Koizumi, then the Japanese prime minister, did not match an authenticated earlier recording.
His book traces Kim�s supposed demise to autumn 2003 when he vanished for about 42 days. Most analysts put this down to mourning for one of his wives, a power struggle inside the Kim dynasty or fear of an American strike.
Kim�s poor health has been the subject of speculation for decades. The professor�s contribution is to cite Russian and Chinese sources saying he had diabetes and illnesses of the heart, liver and lungs, with depression thrown in.
There have been persistent reports that a stand-in appears for Kim at military parades and he is notoriously reclusive. He did not appear in public to receive the Olympic torch in Pyongyang on April 28.
The professor argues that no substantive policy decisions have been taken since North Korea joined nuclear disarmament talks in 2003.
South Korean analysts who attended two summits with Kim (before and after his supposed death) reported that he had indeed changed appearance. But that was because he had lost weight, quit smoking, given up cognac in favour of red bordeaux and coaxed the rest of the politburo onto a health kick.
Additional reporting: Shota Ushio, Tokyo |
I don't believe it, but is it unbelievable? |
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djsmnc
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Dave's ESL Cafe
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| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Paul McCartney did that YEARS ago |
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deadman
Joined: 27 May 2006
Location: Suwon
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| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 9:19 pm Post subject: |
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Yep, he's dead,
As an inveterate conspiracy theorist I'm 100% certain of it.
He has been replaced by a robot, though, not a double. That's too simple an explanation for me. |
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Gatsby
Joined: 09 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 9:41 pm Post subject: |
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Hasn't this been done by Hollywood?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106673/
Sounds like time for a remake. It could be pretty darn funny.
But, I dunno. I mean, if you were the double and got to be head of a country by accident, wouldn't you have more fun?
Of course, there is one problem.
Dave had a little more bargaining power. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 3:01 am Post subject: |
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| Meh. No doubt, ultimately, those under Kim would like to figure out how to open the economy and keep their power and privilege. No one in power there would want a Romanian style uprising. |
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Milwaukiedave
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Location: Goseong
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:33 am Post subject: |
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| Gatsby wrote: |
Hasn't this been done by Hollywood?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106673/
Sounds like time for a remake. It could be pretty darn funny.
But, I dunno. I mean, if you were the double and got to be head of a country by accident, wouldn't you have more fun?
Of course, there is one problem.
Dave had a little more bargaining power. |
Gatsby,
Interesting comparison! Who would be up for the role in your movie?
As for the impostor, I don't think Putin and Jintao would be dumb enough to fall for it. The only way would be IF they are actually in on the whole thing. Now granted, Russia and China have always been close allies of North Korea so it is possible. China would have more to gain as I very much doubt they want North Korea destablized since they share a border with them and they certainly don't want the two Koreas reunited. Russia has bigger problems now with the situation in Georgia, so it is hard to say what their motivation would be. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:40 am Post subject: |
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It's hooey.
You could hide someone's death for a few days and maybe a couple of weeks, but longer wouldn't work. Besides, if you were secretly running a country, would you let the two sons of the dead guy run loose in the world, getting picked up at airports with fake IDs? The two sons who are your major rivals for power? I don't think so.
This is just a distraction by conspiracy nuts that pull attention away from the real news in the North. Are they or aren't they re-opening their nuke site? Will there be an October surprise again this year? One last crisis for Bush before he leaves office. |
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Milwaukiedave
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Location: Goseong
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:45 am Post subject: |
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| Ya-ta Boy wrote: |
It's hooey.
You could hide someone's death for a few days and maybe a couple of weeks, but longer wouldn't work. Besides, if you were secretly running a country, would you let the two sons of the dead guy run loose in the world, getting picked up at airports with fake IDs? The two sons who are your major rivals for power? I don't think so.
This is just a distraction by conspiracy nuts that pull attention away from the real news in the North. Are they or aren't they re-opening their nuke site? Will there be an October surprise again this year? One last crisis for Bush before he leaves office. |
I agree, even though they are a hermit state, eventually something would go wrong and it would be discovered. To actually be true, there are so many IF's it is nuts. It's hard to buy that the Chinese and Russians would go along with it either. |
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Beeyee
Joined: 29 May 2007
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agentX
Joined: 12 Oct 2007
Location: Jeolla province
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| Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 6:28 am Post subject: |
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I guess that means the good professor was onto something.
In any case, Dear Shorty not appearing at something big like this means there's some major issues with him. I'm not liking the sound of that.
Now we wait and see if the US and SK execute SOF order 5062 or whatever (the one where they invade the North to seize the nukes b/f they get stolen/sold/launched/detonated by accident). |
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Rum Jungle
Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Location: North Asia
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| Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 8:04 am Post subject: |
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Well his dad was an imposter, so if a lookalike is now in control (there seems to be serious doubts about the Dear Leader's health, though) it wouldn't surprise!
Some people did not even believe he was who he claimed to be. Kim Il Sung? Wasn't that the name of a famous guerrilla? Didn't he die fighting the Japanese in Manchuria years before? Could this fleshy 33-year-old be that same hero? Soon, however, no one would deny him the name.
Time Magazine article from 1994:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,981116,00.html |
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