Dear Leader Sets World Fashion Trend

Admit it, you figured this was another puff piece about Obama, didn't you? Well, I'm sure one of his bootlickers at MSNBC will dispute this, but there truly is only one Dear Leader and we all bow to his sartorial splendor. This cat doesn't do mom jeans, people.

The trademark suit sported by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il is now in fashion worldwide thanks to his greatness, Pyongyang's official website said Wednesday.

Uriminzokkiri, quoting an article in communist party newspaper Rodong Sinmun, said the modest-looking suits have gripped people's imagination and become a global vogue.

"The reason is that the august image of the Great General, who is always wearing the modest suit while working, leaves a deep impression on people's mind in the world," it said.

"To sum it up, that is because his image as a great man is so outstanding."

The article quoted an unidentified French fashion expert as saying world fashion follows Kim Jong-Il's style.

"Kim Jong-Il mode which is now spreading expeditiously worldwide is something unprecedented in the world's history," the stylist was quoted as saying.

The suits consist of an overall-style zipped-up tunic and matching trousers, usually in khaki or blueish-grey.

The 68-year-old leader wears them even when receiving foreign dignitaries.

During his outside "field guidance" trips in winter, he also dons a shapeless anorak and fur hat.

In other Nork news, the global fashion icon has sentenced an American teacher to eight years hard labor. Expect our Secretary of State, a global leader in pantsuit fashion, to go groveling shortly.

North Korea has sentenced an American teacher to eight years of hard labor and ordered him to pay a $700,000 fine after he crossed illegally into the country - the fourth U.S. citizen to be detained by the islolated regime since last year.

Aijalon Mahli Gomes, of Boston, acknowledged his wrongdoing during a trial at the Central Court Tuesday, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said in a brief dispatch on Wednesday.

The North said last month that it arrested Gomes, 30, on Jan. 25 for trespassing after he crossed into the country from China.

Gomes, a graduate of Bowdoin College in Maine, had been teaching English in South Korea and no details have emerged about why he went to the North. However, Jo Sung-rae, a Seoul-based activist, said Gomes may have been inspired by his acquaintance with an American missionary who made a similar trip to the North in December to protest the country's human rights record.

'She Was Cute With a Baby Face'

Apparently Kim Jong-il wasn't always so ronery. The pot-bellied psychopath looked to be quite the radies' man back in the day.

A LONELY grave in Moscow marks the resting place of the film star who was the first love of the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-il, and the mother of his eldest son.

She lies a few yards from the graves of Josef Stalin’s son Vassily and his wife, in the Troekurovskoe cemetery on the outskirts of the Russian capital. A plain black headstone inscribed with her name – Song Hye-rim – and her dates of birth and death adorns a slab decorated in oriental style.

In the twilight of Kim’s rule, the discovery has highlighted the plots and betrayals that govern the fortunes of his dynasty. According to the highest-ranking defector from North Korea, after hearing of gossip among the elite, Kim later ordered the execution of all the North Koreans who had been students in Moscow and knew of her presence.

After years of mental illness, Song died in exile seven years ago. She gave birth to Kim’s eldest son, Jong-nam, but lived to see him fall from grace.

The dictator’s third son, by another woman, Koh Yong-hee, who is also dead, is expected to inherit his mantle as “great leader”. That son, Jong-un, is thought to be backed by a hardline collective leadership and there are rumours that assassins acting in their name tried to kill Jong-nam in China this summer.

It appears to be the last act in a drama that began on a film set in the 1960s in Pyongyang, when a youthful Kim encountered a beguiling older woman who starred in patriotic movies. The two began an affair, even though Song was married to another man and had a daughter. They divorced and it was then that Song confided in her best friend, a dancer by the name of Kim Yong-sun, now 73.

“She was cute with a baby face,” Kim Yong-sun said. “But not too pretty because her jaw bordered on square and her face was not oval. She was good-natured, a very kind girl.” She gave her account to the South Korean news agency Yonhap, whose reporters contacted her in Seoul, where she lives since defecting from the north.

It was some time in 1969 when Song, her friend from school and university, came to tell her she was moving into Kim’s residence, staffed by eight cooks, 100 servants and 500 bodyguards. Kim Yong-sun recalled: “I asked her, ‘What about your husband?’ She didn’t answer and just said, ‘I may never see you again.’ I understood. How would that be possible?”

In 1971 Song gave birth to Jong-nam and the young father was apparently much enamoured, although her life from that moment was on a downward spiral. Kim’s father, whose word was law in North Korea, never approved of their liaison and it seems they never formally married.

Instead, Kim was obliged to wed another woman, Kim Yong-suk, with whom he had a daughter. Song’s relatives and friends said she fell into depression and suffered a series of mental breakdowns. Airbrushed out of North Korean history, she lingered in Moscow until her death at the age of 65 in May 2002, of unknown causes.

Bill Clinton Meets With Dear Leader

No, not our Dear Leader, but rather that little freak Kim Jong-il. I guess the boss of the imprisoned reporters, Al Gore, is too busy promoting some global warming scam and is too busy to show any concern for his employees.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton made a surprise visit to North Korea on Tuesday to try to win the release of two jailed American journalists, and met the country's reclusive leader Kim Jong-il.

Some analysts said the visit, which U.S. officials insisted was a private one, could mark the isolated state's return to talks over nuclear weapons.

North Korea's KCNA news agency also said that Clinton, who had dinner with Kim, passed on a verbal message from U.S. President Barack Obama but gave no details. Washington said that no such message had been relayed.

"Kim Jong Il expressed thanks for this," KCNA said of the message. "He welcomed Clinton's visit to the DPRK (North Korea) and had an exhaustive conversation with him. There was a wide-ranging exchange of views on the matters of common concern."

The White House also appeared to play down speculation about a possible breakthrough in U.S.-North Korean relations by characterizing Clinton's trip as private.

"While this solely private mission to secure the release of two Americans is on the ground, we will have no comment. We do not want to jeopardize the success of former President Clinton's mission," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement.

Yes, a "private meeting" used for propaganda purposes worldwide.

Smart diplomacy in action, I guess. Rumor has it Clinton's wife is Secretary of State, but I guess the Norks have no use for her.

No doubt Kim gave Clinton thanks for helping him obtain nuclear weapons during his administration.

Lil' Kim Missed the Memo About the World Loving Us Again

Funny, isn't it, how the world's dictators have become increasingly belligerent the past four months? All this yammering about hope, change and smart diplomacy is really paying off.

North Korea threatened a military response to South Korean participation in a U.S.-led program to seize weapons of mass destruction, and said it will no longer abide by the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War.

“The Korean People’s Army will not be bound to the Armistice Agreement any longer,” the official Korean Central News Agency said in a statement today. Any attempt to inspect North Korean vessels will be countered with “prompt and strong military strikes.”

South Korean President Lee Myung Bak ordered his government to take “calm” measures on the threats, his office said in a statement today. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Takeo Kawamura, echoed those remarks and called on North Korea to “refrain from taking actions that would elevate tensions in Asia.”

The threats are the strongest since North Korea tested a nuclear weapon on May 25, drawing international condemnation and the prospect of increased sanctions against the communist nation. South Korea dispatched a warship to its maritime border and is prepared to deploy aircraft, Yonhap News reported, citing military officials it didn’t identify.

The strongest threats in two days. Looks like they're not sitting around waiting for a call from Mrs. Clinton, who has mysteriously fallen off the radar in recent days.

Seems to me Lil' Kim smells weakness.

Had they not heard that Obama wants to "usher in a new era of diplomacy"?

Actually, they likely realize it all too well.

For one, Obama's fondness for talking has done much to reassure the world's bad actors that they needn't fear anything more from the US -- at least in the short run.

Plus, Iran and Korea seem to grasp the most basic rule of diplomacy: If you are going to negotiate, be sure to do it from a position of perceived strength.

Far better for America to be seen begging meekly for an audience after their show of force -- rather than the other way around.

That's something Obama needs to grasp pronto -- before the world becomes an even more combustible place.

If that's possible.

Of course some will do what Obama reflexively does and blame Bush. Good luck selling that argument to anyone outside of the leftwing blogosphere and MSNBC.

First, on the political front, North Korea's Kim Jong Il has challenged President Obama more in four months than he did President George W. Bush in eight years.

Since Obama has taken office, North Korea has kicked out UN nuclear inspectors, launched both short- and long-range missiles and tested a nuclear weapon.

It's not clear why the dictator has chosen to badger Obama, especially considering the president's promises of a kinder, gentler touch when it comes to rogues. But it's definitely not good news for Uncle Sam -- and the conclusion has to be that more provocations are coming in our direction.

The question is: When and how big will the next one be?

Well, Team Smart Diplomacy may want to look south.

Bolivia denied supplying uranium to Iran for its nuclear program, saying Tuesday that it has never produced the metallic element, a key ingredient for nuclear energy and weapons.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez joined top Bolivian officials in dismissing the allegations after a secret Israeli government report accused both nations of providing Iran with uranium.

Bolivian Presidential Minister Juan Ramon Quintana called it nonsense and labeled Israel's intelligence agency a bunch of incompetent "clowns."

I fear we have our own incompetent clowns here in DC.

Meanwhile, the clown-in-chief made no mention of the growing world threats while partying in Las Vegas. The man does have his priorities in order.

“It is good to be back in Vegas,” Mr. Obama told supporters gathered in the Poker Tournament Room at Caesar’s Palace. “I thought I had a good room at Ceaser’s, but now that I am president they upgraded me. They have been stashing away a really nice room. It’s like one of those high-roller rooms. And now I have it because I am president.”

Worst Job in the World: North Korean Political Consultant

Word has it the pay sucks and the benefits are lousy. Plus, it's highly likely you won't be getting a favorable write-up in the history books, such as they are.

Oh, and if Dear Leader doesn't like your advice, you don't move on to a cushy lobbyist job. You wind up dead.

North Korea executed its pointman on South Korea last year, holding him responsible for wrong predictions about Seoul's new conservative government that has ditched a decade of engagement policy toward Pyongyang, sources said Monday.

Choe Sung-chol, who as vice chairman of the North's Asia-Pacific Peace Committee had pushed for bold reconciliation with Seoul's previous liberal governments, disappeared from public sight early last year amid reports that he was fired.

Via Weekly Standard.

Choe probably wasn't alone.

Choe, who once enjoyed the trust of leader Kim Jong Il and helped arrange the 2007 inter-Korean summit, was vice chief of both bodies but disappeared from public view in spring last year.

"North Korea launched a probe into corruption last spring. However it later escalated into a political purge as inter-Korean relations worsened," Lee said.

"North Korea might have needed scapegoats. Reconciliation which blossomed under liberal governments in Seoul had caused a kind of admiration for South Korea among some party cadres and its people."

Kim Yong-hyun, a North Korea studies professor at Dongguk University, also said Choe and other key figures appeared to have been fired. Military hard-liners now control inter-Korean projects, he added.

Enraged at Seoul's new stance, Pyonyang cut virtually all contacts. Last week it scrapped agreements governing the Kaesong estate, putting the future of the project into question.

The names of Choe and other pro-reconciliation figures were absent from a list of deputies published after the North's parliamentary election in March.

Shocker: More North Koreans Starving

So says the UN.

Conveniently omitted from the story is the one man responsible, Kim Jong-il. You'd think he'd actually merit some mention.

HUNGER in North Korea is at its worst since the 1990s, the United Nations said today, prompting the resumption of emergency UN food shipments after a two-year hiatus.

Devastating floods last year wrought havoc on the impoverished country, forcing millions to resort to eating grasses and roots to stay alive, according to the UN's World Food Program.

"I won't say that we are seeing an impending famine, (but) hunger levels are at their worst since the late 1990s,'' said Jean-Pierre de Margerie, the WFP's country director for North Korea.

"Between five and six million Koreans are in need of food assistance right now.'

In a just completed survey, he said, the WFP found that up to half the country was having to forage for foods and resorting to eating edible grasses and roots.

Meanwhile food prices at tightly controlled markets had in some instances quadrupled over the past three months, while the state-run government food distribution system had cut daily rations by nearly 70 per cent, he said.

The WFP began shipping emergency food to North Korea in June, and it will make an international appeal next month for up to $US500 million ($A525 million) in aid to begin flowing in September, he said.

So another half billion dollars will flow in, and likely zero of it will go to feed starving people.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Isn't Communism wonderful?

Israel Demolished Syrian Nuke Cache

You have to figure they were building up using either Saddam Husseins's former material or have been working in cahoots with the North Koreans and Iranians.

You didn't really believe the Norks were just going to give up their program and be honest about dismantling it?

Israelis ‘blew apart Syrian nuclear cache’

Andrew Semmel, a senior US State Department official, said Syria might have obtained nuclear equipment from “secret suppliers”, and added that there were a “number of foreign technicians” in the country.

Asked if they could be North Korean, he replied: “There are North Korean people there. There’s no question about that.” He said a network run by AQ Khan, the disgraced creator of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, could be involved.

But why would nuclear material be in Syria? Known to have chemical weapons, was it seeking to bolster its arsenal with something even more deadly?

Alternatively, could it be hiding equipment for North Korea, enabling Kim Jong-il to pretend to be giving up his nuclear programme in exchange for economic aid? Or was the material bound for Iran, as some authorities in America suggest?

According to Israeli sources, preparations for the attack had been going on since late spring, when Meir Dagan, the head of Mossad, presented Olmert with evidence that Syria was seeking to buy a nuclear device from North Korea.

The Israeli spy chief apparently feared such a device could eventually be installed on North-Korean-made Scud-C missiles.

“This was supposed to be a devastating Syrian surprise for Israel,” said an Israeli source. “We’ve known for a long time that Syria has deadly chemical warheads on its Scuds, but Israel can’t live with a nuclear warhead.”

Read the rest. Let's hope there's a surprise on the way for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The "no WMD" crowd was unavailable for comment.

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