By According to this Japanese university professor, Kim Jong-il could be dead within a year:
Will Kim Jong Il go out quietly, or with a (big) bang?
The North Korean dictator made just his second public appearance on Wednesday since he reportedly suffered a stroke last August, looking gaunt and with dramatically less hair than he had in April, when the 67-year-old Dear Leader presided over a parliamentary meeting in Pyongyang that saw him re-elected.
Speculation on Kim’s health has skyrocketed since his latest appearance to honor his late father and the country’s founder, Kim Il Sung. A source close to Kim’s extended family has said that the leader is in the last months of his life.
“He does not have all that much longer to live and my sources say the doctors’ diagnosis is that he will die before the end of the year,” Waseda University Professor Toshimitsu Shigemura told the Daily Telegraph. “He is still being treated for the main problem, which is complications arising from diabetes, and it had been expected that he could die as soon as this summer.” [Fox News]
Judging by how Kim Jong-il looked recently I definitely think it is a possibility, but Castro has looked nearly as bad and he continues to hang on so who knows?
The rest of the article speculates on whether Kim Jong-il would go out with a bang or not? There is pretty much a consensus that Kim Jong-il will not launch one last attack before his death to communize the South, which I too would be very surprised to see happen.
7:08 am on July 12th, 2009 1
I’m skeptical of the validity of the report. If the source knows that doctors have given Kim less than one year to live, then why can’t they identify precisely the terminal illness or condition? Complications from diabetes is too vague. Are his kidneys failing? Is he on dialysis? Hair loss is a symptom of renal failure, but it’s also a symptom of hundreds of other medical conditions.
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July 12th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
News is reporting pancreatic cancer, with survival rates up to five years. However the median diagnosis is 3-6 months after discovery. Apparently its hard to detect and when it is detected its usually too late. Only 20% surviving more than a year. The five year outlook is 4%.
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7:30 am on July 12th, 2009 2
He will probably live another 10 years. But may not be in power that long.
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10:18 am on July 12th, 2009 3
“Complications from diabetes is too vague.”
Clearly.
My grandmother has been “suffering from the complications of diabetes” for years. She’s nearly 100, not that you’d know unless she told you.
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July 12th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
My grandmother had diabetes and had it for years. She is 124 years old. (However shes been dead for 26 years).
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4:26 pm on July 12th, 2009 4
wishful thinking
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8:01 pm on July 12th, 2009 5
How about pancreatic cancer?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6696778.ece
I wonder which will happen first; Kim Jong-il’s last day on Earth or Laura and Euna’s first day back in California
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12:37 am on July 13th, 2009 6
After seeing KJI last pictures it seems to me that the old guy is seriously ill and he will be missing the next Happy New Year, it is a matter of months not years. ROK should be ready for the change, so resuming I am pretty damn sure that the little commie will die sooner than everybody is expecting. I think is cancer with metastases.
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4:38 am on July 13th, 2009 7
Well, I think the only people who can really say would be doctors with lots of experience in cancer.
Other than that, all I have to say is Kim Jong-il has proven to be one heck of a survivor.
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8:26 am on July 13th, 2009 8
Even before the cancer revelation it was obvious the Chonger is on his last legs. I guess he could last until the New Year but I seriously doubt it.
This is going to be a Big Event when he dies, with NK in the news all the time now it’ll be fascinating to see if his kid can hold onto power. Just think if Kim Jong-Un wants to open up North Korea? The Chinese will GO BESERK!!!!
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1:00 pm on July 13th, 2009 9
As Jack Nicholson said in the movie Batman…. “I’m glad you’re dead!, Ha,Ha!”
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1:57 pm on July 13th, 2009 10
No, Kim is NOT a survivor…this illness will take him in the next few months. I’ve heard the Castro comparisons, but poeple forget that Castro was relatively clean living for the last 30 years or so (gave up cigars, excercised regularly, etc). Those type of dictators are the worst kind: Healthy!
No, Kim is (well, until recently) a big fat pant load who indulged every and any indulgence: wine, women and God konws what else. Someone that age and living that lifestyle fall over like bags of cement the moment a serious illness or medical setback hits ‘em.
Good riddence….faster please.
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July 13th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Funny, I always thought it was the health nuts who ran 10 miles a day that died at age 45.
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2:37 pm on July 13th, 2009 11
Oh please say it isn’t so, little Kim at deaths door? Come on buddy I know you just want to hang out with your dad and all of those folks you admired when you grew up. So here’s to the short one, die you a$$hole, die.
Btw, they should open up the kitchen and his food vault after he dies. At least 1/2 of the country will get one good meal for a few days….
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3:43 pm on July 13th, 2009 12
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July 13th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
Better yet, aides brought on by Yassar Arrafat. Allaha Akbar.
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10:28 pm on July 13th, 2009 13
Wow… such intelligent discussion…
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