By Judi McLeod
Friday, October 6, 2006
all of those never convinced that the tabloid guy in the BVDs was the real Saddam Hussein will be titillated by the latest news coming out of North Korea.
Kim Jong-Il is using body doubles in public appearances and even in photos. That's the latest news originating not from conspiracy theorists, but from Communist www.worldtibune.com.
Due to fears over his personal safety, North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong-Il has gone into the doppelganger game. If there is an assassin's bullet headed his way, he'd rather it finds his double.The movie-obsessed dictator has at least two nearly identical doubles to stand in for him at public appearances.
"They are the spitting image of Kim--the same age, same height and with the same bouffant hairstyle and pot belly," an official told the Yonhap News agency.
Given his reported hair trigger temper, it is unknown how Kim would react to having his hairdo described as "bouffant" or having a"pot belly" as part of his description.
Nobody knows the name of his hairdresser, but the potbelly may be the result of his passion for food described by the La Times. "Dear Leader" gets downright ornery if the rice on his plate is not uniform in size and colour.
"as far as I know, at least two Kim Jong-Il look-alikes fill in for him for some lower profile official events to reduce the chances of Kim being exposed to terrorist attempts," said the official at the National Intelligence Service.
Just like in Hollywood movies, the look-alikes underwent plastic surgery and were trained to speak and act like the reclusive leader at public functions such as "on-spot guidance tours," the official said.
In celebrations marked by pomp and splendor, the real Kim steps out.Kim participates in major on-display events like the country's founding anniversary and likes to be seen in the more Macho mass military parades. Lowly doubles are stand-ins for him at less important events, such as visits to industrial sites or farms.
"Diplomatic flu" takes on a whole new meaning in North Korea. Kim, who commands a cult of personality and is revered as a demigod in his country, also sends his doubles when he's feeling under the weather and if he doesn't want to come off looking weak.
"I heard that their strong physical resemblance makes it hard to detect them even at close range, so many North Korean officials accompanying them don't know whether they are with the real Kim Jong-Il or one of his doubles," the official said. "North Korea-dispatched photos featuring Kim's profile are highly likely to be those of a stand-in," he said.
It's not just paranoia that leaves Kim hiding behind doubles.There have been occasional reports of terrorist attacks and assassination attempts on the 63-year-old Korean ruler, who has run Korea his way ever since his father, founding President Kim Il-Sung, died of heart failure in 1994.
according to worldtribune.com, "a former North Korean military officer who defected to the South said Kim has used body doubles more frequently since the train blast in a North Korean border station town just after Kim's China trip in april 2004. Kim narrowly escaped a catastrophe since his heavily guarded train passed through the Ryongchon station on his way back from Beijing just hours before the explosion.
"There has been speculation that the explosion was linked to an assassination attempt.
Not long after Saddam Hussein was pulled out of his spider hole, word went out that it was not really Hussein but one of his doubles that had been captured.
Meanwhile, authentic doubles for both dictators should be taught to toss the odd temper tantrum if they want to be taken for the real McCoy.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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