Overseas news reports suggest that Kim Jong-Il, North Korea’s self-declared “Dear Leader”, has serious health problems after a stroke and brain surgery. Inside his “hermit nation”, the state media denies any illness and regularly releases photos to show that 67-year-old Kim remains healthy and active. The country’s propaganda-heavy media is such that the more it insists, the less its credibility. Maybe Kim’s “new photos” were taken before he collapsed so whether he’s alive, healthy and sane remains debatable.
PYONGYANG, North Korea – Nervously, a young nurse strode along an empty street. Reaching a massive grey building, she shivered from an early-morning chill and then entered.
Two soldiers gripping machine guns stood inside the hospital’s main doors. They glanced at her in recognition and let her pass.
At the main lifts, three more soldiers kept watch. They, too, let her pass. After riding to the top floor, the nurse followed a long hall to the building’s most luxurious suite, its rooms always kept ready for just one man if he needed them. He’d needed them for many weeks.
Paying little heed to two more soldiers at the doorway, the nurse knocked. Entering, she passed through a heavily furnished living room into a huge bedroom full of medical and entertainment devices.
A buffoonish-looking man, pale but with ‘big hair’ and bright red lips, almost as if he’d sipped blood or applied lipstick, rested upright in an adjustable hospital bed. “Hello, nurse,” he murmured. “Is it time for my private treatment?”
“Yes, Dear Leader.” She gave the expected response before entering an adjoining bathroom for tissues, sponges, a plastic basin and adult diapers.
Back at the bed, she began the heavy-duty cleaning, which took a long time. As she worked, the partly paralyzed patient softly sang a patriotic song.
“Except for my duty to the people, I’d have been a music star,” he chortled. “Madonna has nothing on me.”
Squeezing water from a sponge, the nurse said nothing. Finally finished, she returned her supplies to the bathroom. Once back in the bedroom, she glanced at dirty dishes, silver chopsticks and empty lobster shells cluttering trays stacked in a corner.
“Dear Leader, do you want a big breakfast today?”
Using his good arm, the right one, the bulky man patted a balloon-like belly bulging from under his military-green pajamas. “No,” he said. “Last night, I feasted.”
“Of course.” She turned away, as if to depart.
“Hey, one more thing.” The Dear Leader pointed to a DVD player near his bed. “I’m weary of watching Hollywood movies. The public’s working spirit always inspires me. Have someone bring videos from the prison-labor camps.”
“Yes, Dear Leader.” The nurse shivered. Again, a morning chill touched her.
When the sick man fell silent, she left the room, conveyed his instructions and then walked home. “Where will I find food for my family today?” she wondered.
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