Friday, December 25, 2009

Kim Jong-Il’s 2009 movements

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il almost doubled the number of his trademark “field guidance” trips this year, a year after he apparently suffered a stroke. According to the communist state’s media, Kim had made 156 inspection trips as of mid-December compared to only 90 in 2008, said South Korea’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies.

North Korea this year also launched two major economic campaigns aimed at helping build a “strong and prosperous nation” by 2012, the centenary of the birth of its late founder Kim Il-Sung, the current leader’s father.

Jang Song-Taek, the leader’s brother-in-law and often seen as his right-hand man, accompanied him on 82 of the visits.

AFP

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