I watched part of a documentary Sunday night....don't ask me the name, as I was doing one of those flipping channel thingys and landed on it. The author and subject in the film visited NK. He was treated with royalty and much fanfare. Dinners were lavish and served in a dining room, where he was the only diner. The other tables were set as if to expect 100 more diners, who never came....The Ghost Restaurant! His final day was spent at a stadium where a show of Korean dancers and singers...(at least a thousand) gave a fine performance of their talents. All this according to the author's opinion was meant for him, choreographed by the government...so he could take show "the west" ephemera.

I don't recall whether he met Kim....?

Today the news media are buzzing about how Kim Jong Il has supposedly suffered a stroke back on August 14. Curiouser and curiouser.

First, his not appearing at the birthday celebration squashes talk of look-alikes, as certainly one of them would have been trotted out for this occasion.

Second, I saw some video smuggled out of North Korea, purporting to have been taken at great risk with a hidden vid cam. It showed streets in Seoul, and people literally collapsing and dieing on them as others walked by. (Kind of like New York). My memory of all the details is murky, but it was VERY unpleasant stuff if true, and many of the people live like no human beings should.

That would certainly make a lot a sense. One would think this would be precisely the occasion when a "lookalike" would be required to put in an appearance.


Seoul? I'm guessing you meant to give the capitol of North Korea, but hell, I can't remember the name of the damned place, either, and couldn't spell it even if I did remember.

Yes, you are quite right, I think the city is Pyongyang.

My error, thanks for pointing it out.