[size=14pt]Kim Jong Il: Top 10 weird facts about N Korea's late leader[/size]
From his breeding giant rabbits to a fear of flying, the "Dear Leader" was a bit strange.
Amanda MorrowDecember 19, 2011 08:04

[size=14pt]1. Divine birth

Legend has it that a double rainbow and a glowing new star appeared in the heavens to herald the birth of Kim Jong Il, in 1942, on North Korea's cherished Baekdu Mountain. Soviet records, however, indicate he was born in the Siberian village of Vyatskoye, in 1941. The people of North Korea, many of whom are reportedly battling famine, are apparently told that Kim's birthday is celebrated throughout the world.[/size]

2. Fear of flying

Perhaps one of the reasons the North Korean leader was so reclusive was his fear of flying, which he inherited from his father, Kim Il Sung. Kim rarely traveled abroad, and when he did it was by train – once taking a luxury rail car all the way to Moscow. In August GlobalPost reported that Kim visited Russia for talks with President Dmitry Medvedev, in an effort to shore up support for a transfer of power to his third son Kim Jong Un. Kim's preference for rail travel is poignant because his death reportedly occurred during a train journey to a region outside of the capital, Pyongyang.

3. Wanted to breed giant rabbits

German media reported in 2007 that Kim hoped to solve the famine in his country by breeding giant rabbits. An east German farmer who bred rabbits the size of dogs was apparently asked by North Korea to help set up a big bunny farm to alleviate food shortages. To get things going, he sent a batch of 12 giant rabbits to North Korea, but was shocked to hear they were eaten at Kim's birthday banquet that year.

4. Liked to eat roast donkey

While Kim was on his famous 2001 train trip to Moscow, a Russian envoy who traveled with him said roast donkey and fresh lobsters were flown to the train every day. Kim also reportedly ate the food with silver chopsticks, and washed it down with French wine and Champagne. Kim was also said to be one of the world's biggest buyers of Hennessey cognac.

[size=14pt]5. High achiever

Official records reportedly show that Kim learned to walk at the age of three weeks, and was talking at eight weeks. While at Kim Il Sung University, he apparently wrote 1,500 books over a period of three years, along with six full operas. According to his official biography, all of his operas are “better than any in the history of music." Then there's his sporting prowess. In 1994, Pyongyang media reported that the first time Kim picked up a golf club, he shot a 38-under par round on North Korea's only golf course, including 11 holes-in-one. Reports say each of his 17 bodyguards verified the record-breaking feat. He then decided to retire from the sport forever.[/size]

6. Built a city for propaganda

In the 1950s Kim built an entire city called Kijong-Dong, also known in North Korea as the Peace Village, which was designed only for propaganda. It is situated in the North's half of the Korean Demilitarized Zone, and to this day it has no residents. Western media, particularly in South Korea, refer to it as Propaganda Village.

7. Fashion icon

Standing at at 5-foot-3, Kim was a curious figure with his bouffant hairdo, platform shoes and collection of jumpsuits. And let's not forget those sunglasses. But nevertheless, Rodong Sinmun, a communist party newspaper, reported that Kim Jong Il's suits had become a global fashion phenomenon. His “fashion icon” status has also reportedly been transferred to son and successor, Kim Jong Un. Word is that the slick, trimmed haircut of Kim the younger, who may have had plastic surgery to look more like his father, is being mimicked by countless youths on the streets of Pyongyang.

8. Film buff

Kim was said to be an avid film collector, amassing more than 20,000 video tapes and DVDs. His favourite flicks reportedly included Friday the 13th, Rambo, Godzilla, Hong Kong action fims, and anything starring Elizabeth Taylor. In 1978, he ordered the kidnapping of South Korean film director Shin Sang-ok and his actress wife Choi Eun-hee so they could build a North Korean film industry. A decade later, they reportedly escaped while on a trip to Austria, and have since been granted refuge in the United States.

9. Child killer?

When Kim was aged five or six, his younger brother Shura Kim drowned in the family's swimming pool. Unconfirmed Soviet reports said that Kim was responsible for the accident. His mother died in childbirth the following year.

[size=14pt]10. Didn't defecate

It is reported that Kim's official biography on the North Korean state web site, which has since been taken down, claimed that Kim did not defecate. Enough said.[/size]

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/news/regions/asia-pacific/kim-jong-il-top-10-weird-facts-about-north-koreas-late-leader

Such is the comedic megalomania tyrants are made of.

[size=14pt]North Korea: "Natural wonders" observed when Kim Jong Il died[/size]
When Kim Jong Il died, the holiest mountain glowed red, according to state media.
Erin Conway-SmithDecember 22, 2011 09:43

The day that Kim Jong Il died, the peak of North Korea's holiest mountain glowed red and a sheet of ice cracked on Heaven Lake, shaking the area with an unusually loud noise.

These were among the "peculiar natural wonders" observed around Kim's death, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The personality cult built around the Kim dynasty often leans on tales of natural phenomena. The stories usually center on Mount Paektu (also called Mount Baektu, and known as Changbai Mountain in China), a 9,000-foot peak described in an official Kim Jong Il biography as "the soul and spirit of the nation." Another sacred site is Lake Chon (Heaven Lake), which is a crater lake on the mountain.

Kim Jong Il was born on holy Mount Paektu, according to the official story that serves to legitimize Kim and his divine rule. Propaganda paintings in North Korea show a star glowing over the mountain, similar to the Star of Bethlehem in the birth of Jesus Christ.

In reality, Kim Jong Il was born in Russia, likely in a village near the Siberian city of Khabarovsk, but that doesn't fit with the story of a divine birth.

GlobalPost's in-depth series: After Kim Jong Il

In another "natural wonder" associated with Kim Jong Il's death, a Manchurian crane flew around a statue of Kim Il Sung three times before eventually flying off, "with its head drooped," in the direction of Pyongyang.

According to the KCNA:


Observing this, the director of the Management Office for the Hamhung Revolutionary Site and others said in union that even the crane seemed to mourn the demise of Kim Jong Il born of Heaven after flying down there at dead of cold night, unable to forget him.

Another KCNA story highlighted the cold winter weather braved by Kim Jong Il on the last days of his life, and how this is "moving the hearts of all the Korean people."

December 16, the day before Kim died, he "set out on the continuous forced march" after giving on-the-spot guidance to the Hana Music Information Center and the Kwangbok Area Supermarket.

The KCNA described Kim's heroism:

That day the weather was very cold with fishtail and strong wind,  Those weather data make one more keenly feel the painful labors of Kim Jong Il who continued in common attire his journey of field guidance with patriotic devotion despite the biting cold weather.

The departed leader's life was "bright as snow," and "no one has ever made such total dedication with a pure and true mind like snow," said yet another KCNA story.

"He worked hard day and night, having uncomfortable sleep and taking rice-balls," the story said.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/weird-wide-web/north-korea-news-natural-wonders-kim-jong-il-personality-cult

Entertaining shiit!

ROTFL!!!! Entertaining indeed!!!