In Brief... World News Review
The Legacy of Kim Il-Sung
Flowers and trees are miraculously blooming out of season in honor of the fifth anniversary of the death of the late "Glorious Leader," Kim Il-Sung. So reports North Korea's state press.
The defunct Kim, who founded North Korea in 1945, was just named "Eternal President" of the hermit nation of 25 million by his son and heir, "Beloved Leader" Kim Jong-Il, a semi-recluse who appears even more bizarre and unpredictable than his father. North Korea also used the occasion to blast the U.S. for "impudent interference, blackmail, and warmongering;" roasted the hated Japanese for "militarism" and warned of nefarious South Korean plots. In short, more vintage weirdness from dangerous, clearly psychotic North Korea (Eric Margolis, July 11, 1999).