Clinton met fake Kim Jong-il, claims Japanese academic

September 10th, 2009 Report: Kim Jong Il healthy says NKorea No. 2TOKYO — North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is in good health and has not named his third son as his successor, the communist country's No.

August 7th, 2009 Report: NKorea ready to discuss detained SKoreanSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea expressed its willingness to talk about a South Korean worker being held in the communist nation, a news report said Friday after Pyongyang freed two American journalists following a trip by former President Bill Clinton. Clinton also urged the North to free the worker and other detained South Koreans and make progress on the issue of abducted Japanese citizens during his landmark trip to Pyongyang earlier this week that included a rare meeting with leader Kim Jong Il, South Korean and Japanese officials said.

August 6th, 2009 Clinton urged NKorea to free detained SKoreansSEOUL, South Korea — Former President Bill Clinton urged North Korea to free detained South Koreans and make progress on the issue of abducted Japanese citizens, South Korean and Japanese officials said Thursday. Clinton made the requests to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il during a rare meeting in Pyongyang earlier this week that secured the freedom of two U.S.

August 5th, 2009 SEOUL - An editorial in a South Korean daily has warned that North Korea could use the release of two American journalists as a direct bargaining chip with the United States in the near future. "Regardless of what the US administration says, the Clinton-Kim meeting signals the start of direct bargaining...

August 5th, 2009 PYONGYANG - The two American journalists pardoned by North Korean leader Kim Jong Il left the country Wednesday aboard a chartered plane carrying the homebound former US president Bill Clinton. Clinton arrived unexpectedly in Pyongyang Tuesday and met the North Korean leader to secure the release of two journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were arrested in March for sneaking into the communist country illegally.

August 4th, 2009 SEOUL - Visiting former US president Bill Clinton Tuesday met North Korea's ailing leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang and conveyed a verbal message from US President Barack Obama, South Korea's state-run Yonhap news agency reported. Kim has hosted a dinner for Clinton at the state guesthouse, according to Radio Pyongyang and Korean Central Broadcasting Station.

June 20th, 2009 LONDON - The health of 'Dear Leader' Kim Jong-Il is rapidly deteriorating, and North Korea is trying to buy high-tech medical equipment from abroad to address the issue, according to latest reports. South Korea's largest selling newspaper, the Chosun Ilbo, reports that North is seeking to bring in an emergency helicopter and other expensive medical equipment through China.

June 16th, 2009 TOKYO - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's third son, Kim Jong Un, made a secret visit to Beijing last week to inform Chinese leaders that his father had chosen him as his successor, a leading Japanese daily said Tuesday. The younger Kim confirmed to Chinese President Hu Jintao that Kim Jong Il wanted him to take over as North Korea's supreme leader, Japan's Asahi Shimbun quoted Chinese and North Korean sources as saying.

June 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - North Korea is launching missiles, testing nuclear devices and whipping up global tension so that its ailing supreme leader, Kim Jong Il, can create conditions for a "hereditary transfer of power," according to a top South Korean defence official. Many analysts say that the elder Kim, who is 67 and suffered a stroke last summer, is trying to distract North Koreans from the collapsed economy and continuing food shortages to make a security-based case for giving power to his young son.

June 10th, 2009 LONDON - Japan is witnessing the emergence of a new trend-hiring of "fake friends" or "work colleagues" or even "fake relatives" to attend ones wedding. Japanese company, Office Agents, which is based in Tokyo, rents out these people to fill up the guest list, and one can hire an agent to attend the wedding as a guest at the price of 127 pounds.

June 10th, 2009 TOKYO - The eldest son of Kim Jong Il, North Korea's supreme leader, has confirmed that his youngest brother, Kim Jong Un, 26, will succeed their father as the Head of State. Months of rumours and speculation were confirmed today when Kim Jong Nam, the first son of the country's "Dear Leader", told Japanese television that his half-brother, Kim Jong Un had been designated heir apparent.

June 9th, 2009 Report: Oldest son speaks on NKorean successionTOKYO — A man believed to be the eldest son of North Korean ruler Kim Jong Il said in an interview aired Tuesday he thinks reports that his youngest brother will become the communist country's next leader are true. "Well, I hear the news by media.

June 3rd, 2009 BEIJING - Kim Jong-un, the youngest son and designated heir of North Korean Leader Kim Jong-il, it seems, is a splitting image of his father. A Globe and Mail report on the young man, who is set to inherit control of a nuclear-armed state, quotes a book as sayingthat he is an avid skier, a fan of retired basketball player Michael Jordan and movies starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and a heavy drinker, like his dad.

February 16th, 2009 TOKYO - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Tokyo Monday, kicking off her first visit abroad since taking office last month. The global economic downturn, North Korea's nuclear weapons programme as well as bilateral relations were expected to feature prominently in talks Tuesday with Japan's top leaders.

February 16th, 2009 TOKYO - Visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday called on Japan to play a bigger role in the UN peacekeeping operations, the official Kyodo news agency reported. During talks with Japanese Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada, Clinton said she wanted to 'encourage' deeper engagement by Japan in such operations, said the report.