North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il may be gravely ill, perhaps the victim of a stroke, U.S. and other Western officials said Tuesday after he failed to appear for a major national parade. If so, it could jeopardize the already troubled international effort to get his nation to abandon nuclear weapons.
Kim’s absence from a military parade for the country’s 60th anniversary lent credence to reports that the man North Koreans call the “Dear Leader” had been incapacitated during the past few weeks.
The 66-year-old Kim, who has been rumored to be in varying degrees of ill health for years, has not been seen since mid-August. Though he appears rarely in public and his voice is seldom broadcast, Kim has shown up for previous landmark celebrations.
“There is reason to believe Kim Jong Il has suffered a serious health setback, possibly a stroke,” one Western intelligence official said. A senior U.S. official said fresh rumors had been circulating about Kim’s health and his control over North Korea’s highly centralized government.
A former CIA official with recent access to intelligence on North Korea said that even before Tuesday the agency was confident that reports of a health crisis were accurate.
The officials spoke anonymously to summarize sensitive intelligence.
It’s still too early to know if this is accurate. But if it is, I honestly don’t know how to feel about it.
Thoughts?
Stephen J. says: If it means the people of North Korea stand any chance of getting out from under their tyranny, be happy for that.
Insofar as Kim is finally enduring some small share of the suffering he’s inflicted on his people, there is some satisfaction to be taken from that, too.
We should try to avoid sadistic glee, however. To be pleased at justice is one thing; to maliciously enjoy the pain of another person, no matter how well-deserved, is something we should try to be above whenever possible. (Especially if, as I suspect, there are enough entrenched tyrants in that power structure that one man’s death is not going to bring it tumbling down.)
I R A Darth Aggie says: I honestly don’t know how to feel about it. Thoughts?
Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Maybe he’ll opt for a nice retirement package?
Doesn’t bother me in the least. If anyone deserves a little pain and misery it’s this little Tyrant of a man. North Korea won’t recover for decades after the misery his father and he have wrought. We’ll see if the power structure starts to collapse if he kicks the bucket.
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