Free Republic

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea's authoritarian leader makes no public appearances for three weeks, skipping a high-profile event he usually attends. An official documentary shows him limping and overweight and mentions his "discomfort." What follows is a smorgasbord of media speculation about what's eating Kim Jong Un. Maybe it's gout, unidentified sources tell South Korean reporters, or diabetes, or high blood pressure. A thinly sourced British report says the Swiss-educated dictator has been laid low by a massive cheese addiction. A headline in Seoul offers up the possibility of a common South Korean obsession: fried chicken and beer....

Our nation has been righfully griped by the events in Boston over the past week. Just before that, the world seemed on the brink of global nuclear conflagration. Just why did that switch got turned off and all of a sudden what seemed like an imminent worldwide crisis has fizzled into nothing. Little Kim was upstaged, or was he?

North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jung Un is playing a mean game of chicken with South Korea and the United States. This is how chubby little dictators behave to gain the attention of world leaders and garner support—grudging or otherwise– of their own populace. Most likely he is in a power play with older military leaders in a political battle royal to keep himself in power. Nukes This week the tyrant-in-training authorized the North Korean military to use untested nukes against American bases in South Korea. In poker this is called a bluff. It is also a ploy mainly for domestic...

Check out the photo of Kim Jong Un found in a CBS News article. The legend reads: "March 31, 2013 photo released by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed in Tokyo April 1, 2013 by Korea News Service shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un giving speech during plenary meeting of central committee of ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang, North Korea / AP." Note that the Korea News Service is the official North Korean news agency. Yo, North Korean media dudes: your photo makes the Supreme Nork look like a dork, as if he's wearing a dunce cap! View...

Kabuki Theater Kim Jong Un is rattling his sword in a vain attempt to gain legitimacy as a leader. The third generation dictator is desperately seeking respect both at home and on the world stage. He believes that the well-publicized bluster of a “courageous” stand against aggressive invaders from the South and the West will cause him to be seen as an emerging, world class leader and somehow allow him to fill the void left by Hugo Chavez. He apparently wants the respect his daddy never got. China What the spoiled brat of North Korea is counting on is China....

Pyongyang, April 30 (KCNA) -- Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army Kim Jong Un, first secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and first chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission, provided field guidance to the work for developing the Rungra Pleasure Ground for People. He was accompanied by Jang Song Thaek, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the WPK and vice-chairman of the National Defence Commission. The Rungra Pleasure Ground for People covering an area of nearly 100 hectares consists of the Rungra Dolphin Aquarium, Rungra Wading Pool, Rungra Funfair, etc. The first leg...

/begin my translation N. Korea: Name Change Ordered for those with First Name ‘Jung-un’ [Despite dire economic situation, preparation for Kim Jung-un's succession is well in progress] According to Feb. 15 phone conversation with our source at Danchon District in S. Hamkyong Province, N. Korean regime is currently ordering that everybody whose first name is 'Jung-un' should change it, as a part of Kim Jung-un's succession process. According to the source, local party committees and citizen's registration offices are individually summoning those with Jung-un as their first name and ordering them to change it. There are 20~30 people with such...

/begin my translation N. Korea: Signs of Succession Intrigue (laying down post-Kim Jong-il era) Yonhap News 2007.05.27 09:00 Choi Sun-young and Chang Yong-hoon = Recently in N. Korea, signs of preparation for post-Kim Jong-il era are showing up, prompting outsiders’ attention. Two sons born from Kim Jong-il and his third wife Ko Yong-hee(deceased on May, 2004), Jung-chol(age:26,) and Jung-un(age: 23), are reportedly accompanying Kim Jong-il and showing up at various public events such as visit to military units. The two sons used to frequently accompany Kim Jong-il’s visits to military units while their mother was still alive, but after her...