By There is no way to confirm this report so take it for what it is worth:
The health of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is rapidly deteriorating, prompting the hasty decision to name his third son Jong-un as heir apparent, sources told the Chinese press. The Global News, a sister paper of the official People’s Daily, on Thursday quoted a foreign ambassador in Pyongyang as saying that Kim Jong-il’s fragile health made the situation in North Korea “very complicated.”
The envoy told the Global News that authorities in Pyongyang are keeping tight lid on information about Kim’s health.
A North Korean source in Beijing said Beijing-based North Korean officials from Ponghwa Hospital, which is treating Kim’s illness, are looking to import expensive medical equipment, which has become contraband since the North conducted its first nuclear test in 2006. Pyongyang is also seeking to import an emergency helicopter from overseas. “Kim seems to be in serious condition,” the source added. [Chosun Ilbo]
Also keep in mind that this article is assuming Kim Jong-un has been appointed as the next leader of North Korea, which as Andrei Lankov points out is not necessarily the case.
9:13 am on June 19th, 2009 1
I hope he dies on the same day as his dad (July 7), and under similar mysterious circumstances (no doctors around at the time of death).
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7:31 pm on June 19th, 2009 2
It would be a pleasure to hear of Kims death before anyone is appointed successor. I would hope that chaos ensued and the whole damn country imploded. Sorry China, Russia, and South Korea for the failure to keep a gulag intact as long as you wished.
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June 19th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
“It would be a pleasure to hear of Kim’s death before anyone is appointed successor. I would hope that chaos ensued and the whole damn country imploded.”
I’ll second that.
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1:44 am on June 20th, 2009 3
Kim Jong Il already appointed his successor. All he needs to do now is die and his 3rd son will continue the same policy as his father. NK is not going to collapse anytime soon unless someone stands up to this basket case of a regime.
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9:34 am on June 20th, 2009 4
I read the story in Korean a couple of days ago and searched in vain for the original Chinese-language media source. Chinese netizens are prolific publishers and circulators of fake online news stories, and it’s possible the Chosun got the story second-hand from some other source. I wouldn’t have a bottle of champaign chilling in the fridge, ready to celebrate.
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2:12 pm on June 20th, 2009 5
Wait a minute…are you suggesting that a mainstream Korean media outlet would dare publish a story of this import without first sourcing and confirming the information?
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