Kim Il Sung

(Newser) - Kim Jong-Il likely entered China by train today as tensions over an alleged attack on a South Korean cruiser threatened to boil over. Both North and South Korea are looking to China for help—Seoul wants the North to be punished economically for the strike, while Kim wants further aid...

(Newser) - North Korea has started making a documentary honoring Kim Jong-il's life, leading many to suspect that the leader's final chapter is looming, Bloomberg reports. The leader, 67, is thought to have suffered a stroke last year and recent reports say he is now battling terminal pancreatic cancer. Analysts believe Kim,...

(Newser) - North Korea's capital was prettied up last month to show off the country's nonexistent prosperity to the New York Philharmonic and the accompanying press corps, the LA Times reports. The visitors to Pyongyang ate luxurious meals in newly painted hotels, but after they finished, the lights went out. "As...

(Newser) - The 2,000 Western tourists who managed to visit North Korea this year—four times as many as were allowed in 2002—offer a weirdly illuminating glimpse into the propaganda-saturated country closed to journalists, notes the Economist. Kim Jong-Il’s “Mass Games” performances—packed with synchronized dancing eggs and...