http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1153522006
North Korea's leader 'in hiding' KWANG-TAE KIM IN SEOUL KIM Jong Il, the North Korean leader, has not made any known public appearances since his country test-fired a barrage of missiles that drew international condemnation, leading to speculation of a possible sense of crisis inside the reclusive nation. According to South Korea's spy agency, Mr Kim was last seen at a Russian art performance and a tyre factory on 4 July, a day before the launches. The North's propaganda machine has not reported on Mr Kim's activities, but last week the country's official news agency said he had sent a consolation message to Fidel Castro, the ailing Cuban leader. Mr Kim usually visits military units a few times a month to bolster his policy that rewards the 1.1 million-strong armed forces with the country's scarce resources despite chronic food shortages. Some North Korea watchers have speculated that Mr Kim might be in a bunker, since the communist country is believed to have gone on a quasi-war footing after the UN Security Council passed a resolution condemning the missile tests. In 2003, Mr Kim disappeared for seven weeks when his hardline regime quit the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and the United States invaded Iraq. Cheong Seong-chang, a North Korea analyst at the independent Sejong Institute, attributed Mr Kim's latest absence to massive flood damage in the country, saying he has shied away from the public in times of crisis in the past. Last month's heavy rains killed at least 549 and flooded more than 48,000 acres of farmland, raising new famine fears. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
