Where in the World is Kim Jong-il?

Yesterday it was reported that North Korean despot Kim Jong-il was on a rare trip out of the country having entered China via armored train. Today he has gone missing:

The whereabouts of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il remained unclear Thursday, with a Hong Kong-based television network speculating he may be headed for the south Chinese city of Guangzhou, while other reports put him in Beijing or Russia.

Wouldn't it be something if China finally tired of their southern neighbor's antics and just disappeared him?

Update: Some of the speculation around this disappearance is hilarious.

Some wondered whether Kim had only travelled through China on his way to Russia - a scenario 'almost ruled out' by one South Korean diplomat, given the fact that a direct rail connection exists between the North Korean capital Pyongyang and Moscow.

South Korean news agency Yonhap said it learned that the despotic North Korean leader had overcome his deep-rooted fear of flying and had flown to Shanghai, without explaining why his personal train would be travelling across China without him.

'He's not in Beijing at any rate,' the diplomat said confidently.

Life in North Korea

Today's must read, Glimpses of a Hermit Nation:

As a physician in North Korea, Kim Ji Eun would see malnourished children being killed by minor colds. “They would look at you with these big eyes,” she said. “Even the children always knew they were dying.”

North Korea: Hunger, Inflation and ...Protests?

In spite of one of the best harvest in a decade, North Korea recently cut the daily ration of maize, rice and potatoes from 300g to 250g per individual.

Some theorize that the move is designed to encourage the growth of farmer's markets, a gudging experiment of free-market forces which were only recently implemented. However it seems that farmers have started holding back some of their harvest from the government in order to sell it at the market, where thier goods demand fabulous prices (1kg of rice currently costs 30% of the average monthly wage). No real surprise there -- such is the bitter fruit of partial deregulation (shades of Californian energy!).

A video tape was recently smuggled out of the country that depicts the beginnings of rebelion:

The first images of dissident activities in North Korea show a poster of Kim Jong-il covered in handwritten slogans against the leader. “People, let’s stage both violent and non-violent struggles,” said a leader of the North Korean group Youth Solidarity for Freedom in a spoken statement recorded on the videotape. “It’s a legitimate struggle if you refuse to go to work when your factory does not provide food and living allowances. [. . .] “Why is Kim Jong-il so intent on blocking reform and openness?” [. . .] “Down with Kim Jong-il! People, let’s all rise up and drive out the dictatorship!”

The tape has not yet been authenticated, but add two other items of interest:

1. North Korean refugees in South Korea speak in fact of increasingly frequent disturbances in rural towns in which people clamour for food and the removal of the country’s leader.
2. China has moved troops up to its border with North Korea which, according to an analyst with The Japan Times, shows how much Beijing is concerned about possible troubles in its neighbour.

Interesting times.