November 16, 2004
PORTRAIT TO BE TREATED FOR BROKEN HEART:
Report: N.Korea Leader's Portraits Removed (Las Vegas Sun/AP, 11/16/2004; via Rantburg)
Some portraits of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il have been removed from buildings in the country, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported Tuesday, citing an unidentified diplomat....[G]uests at recent Foreign Ministry receptions saw only portraits of Kim's late father, Kim Il Sung, who founded the secretive Communist state.
"A light rectangular spot and a nail in the wall were the only things that remained in the place where Kim Jong Il's portrait had hung," the agency cited the diplomat as saying.
After the exit polls got his hopes up, the Ohio results must have been a devastating shock. Posted by Paul Jaminet at November 16, 2004 9:02 PM
All those bootleg copies of "Team America: World Police" smuggled across the 38th Paralell must be having their desired effect..
Posted by: John at November 16, 2004 10:55 PM"[A] nail in the wall" ??
Is North Korea so hard up that they can't even spare the energy to remove the nail and spackle the hole when removing a hanging ?
Posted by: Michael Herdegen at November 16, 2004 11:14 PMAortic Disection -- its just a stroke away.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at November 17, 2004 1:59 AMMore on this story yesterday in The Australian. It appears that the death of his favorite mistress has him in seclusion, and Bush's win has the rest of the inner circle rattled. He may have become too screwy even for them:
Diplomats and aid officials in Pyongyang noticed the first signs of a clampdown when some members of their North Korean staff were abruptly reassigned to new jobs and others became more nervous than usual about discussing current affairs. Restrictions had been imposed on foreigners' movements, they said.
Telephones used by foreign residents have been cut off and the secret police have assumed control of the country's mobile phone service.
Entry permits for foreigners have been curtailed.
Perhaps "Dear Leader" is undergoing an extreme make-over and is planning on having new pictures of himself distributed; or, perhaps he has died (to intimate w/Arafat perhaps).
Posted by: D.Phil at November 17, 2004 8:45 AMBush's re-election made the Dear Leader's hair stand up on end.
Posted by: Bart at November 17, 2004 2:03 PM