North Korea throws king-size birthday party for Kim Jong Il

SEOUL, South Korea
— The devoted threw a party fit for a prince: There were dancers,
singers and synchronized swimmers, not to mention unnamed foreign
dignitaries — all celebrating the 68th birthday Tuesday of Kim Jong Il,
North Korea’s “Dear Leader.”

In Pyongyang,
state-run media lauded a national hero “praised by mankind as the most
outstanding political elder and the peerlessly brilliant commander of
the present era.”

Outside the isolationist state, though, the take on
Kim’s milestone was a bit less breathless as analysts questioned his
physical and mental health following a suspected stroke in 2008.

In a South Korean journal article published this
month, a senior analyst wrote that many North Korean officials did not
expect Kim to live more than another five years.

Cheong Seong-chang, a senior analyst at the private
Sejong Institute think tank, says Kim regularly undergoes kidney
dialysis due to complications from diabetes.

Citing what the report called reliable sources, Cheong wrote that Kim suffered from depression and was psychologically unstable.

“Kim Jong Il is known to have shed some tears when
bodyguards were with him, unlike in the past,” according to the journal
report.

Cheong says Kim’s failing health has led him to
hasten his search for a successor. Rumors persist that Kim last year
named his third son, Kim Jong-un, to succeed him.

One anonymous South Korean intelligence expert told
The Associated Press that Kim had forsaken Western medicine for
expensive, hard-to-find remedies such as bear gall bladder, rhinoceros
horn and musk — much of it imported from China.

But Kim is still walking. Government-run media often
release undated photos documenting his personal inspections of
factories and military compounds.

“Kim Jong Il seems to be doing well in governing. He
is working on foreign relations and going out for field guidance,” said
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. “And it’s likely he’ll visit China soon.”

North Korea recently completed an investment deal with China that equaled half its annual economic output, according to Seoul’s Yonhap news agency.

Meanwhile, Pyongyang threw a party on a day that’s considered North Korea’s most poignant national holiday.

Performing before unnamed foreign guests,
synchronized swimmers “depicted beautiful frost flowers carrying
boundless reverence” for Kim as they swam to such nationalistic North
Korean tunes as “Let’s Meet Each Other on the Front” and “Let the
Soldiers Be Heroes,” according to state media.

The nation’s Social Youth League also gave a performance that included a rendition of the song “Thunder Over Jong Il Peak.”

“There are festivities in cities and provinces,
including lots of athletic games, performances, gun salutes and
contests, to enhance the North Korean people’s solidarity,” said Yang.
“Everything is to emphasize King Jong Il.”

But there were also cracks in the propaganda onslaught.

North Korea has
in recent months been beset by a deepening cash shortage and even
internal unrest following U.N. sanctions and a misguided move to
devalue its currency that almost brought its already-anemic economy to
a standstill.

A report by North Korea’s Central News Agency pointed out that all the nation’s children usually received gifts from Kim to commemorate his birthday.

Not this year.

The agency cited “abnormal climatic conditions” and “blocked sea routes” to explain why that would not happen this year.

Still, the Dear Leader was lauded: “Presents were
transported by helicopter for a small number of children,” the release
reported, “a measure taken by Kim Jong Il.”

—

(c) 2010, Los Angeles Times.

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