Last but not least: General well-being in North Korea

The question that should concern us today is the following: What are all the other nations actually doing while we celebrate Christmas and New Year's Eve here in Christian Europe? What are the North Korean people doing, for example, and how is Kim Jong-il actually doing? If you believe the North Korean state media, the head of state is in excellent health - contrary to the intelligence information that reaches us from the south of the Korean peninsula. On Sunday, it was reported that the president had attended a concert by the state symphony orchestra. The audience cheered when the 66-year-old appeared at the concert. The orchestra had played patriotic works such as "Blue Sky Over My Country". Shortly before this, the state news agency had already reported on a visit by the head of state to the country's armed forces. However, there was no mention of when the visits took place. Kim has been absent from the scene for months and is said to have suffered a stroke in August. At the beginning of September, he did not attend the celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of North Korea, and at the end of October he was absent from the funeral of a high-ranking party friend. According to information from the South Korean secret service NIS, the dictator, who has a heart condition and suffers from diabetes, is said to have suffered a stroke or brain haemorrhage this year.North Korea continues to dismiss the speculation about the 66-year-old's state of health as propaganda. It repeatedly publishes reports and recordings that are supposed to prove the well-being of the communist ruler. However, Western experts doubt that the recordings are really up to date. Pyongyang is even stricter than Bern when it comes to awarding radio and television licenses to independent broadcasters.