A Japanese TV station on Thursday retracted what it had called an exclusive image of the likely successor to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il after a South Korean man said it was a summer snapshot of himself.
“We have come to believe that there is high probability that the picture is of another person,” TV Asahi said a day after airing the “scoop” picture as the first image of the North Korean leader’s youngest son, Kim Jong-un, 26.
The retraction and apology came after South Korean construction industry worker Bae Seok-bum, 40, told South Korean news agency Yonhap that the picture was a photograph of himself taken last summer, which he had posted online.
The television network explained that one of its reporters had received the digital image from a South Korean official and had shown it to another source, who had said it was “90 percent” likely to be of the younger Kim.
“I’m speechless,” Bae told Yonhap, saying he had posted the photo on a Web site to show others how closely he resembled the elder Kim.
Rival Nippon TV later broadcast an interview with Bae, who said his friends sometimes tease him about looking like the reclusive Pyongyang regime leader.
“When I go out with friends, we take pictures of each other. I have been nicknamed ‘Comrade Chairman’ on such occasions,” Bae said.
“I never thought our joke would develop into such a situation,” he said.
TV Asahi, when it aired the image on Wednesday, digitally cut out the sunglasses Bae wore in the picture and pasted a set of Kim Jong-il’s eyes over them in an attempt to reconstruct the face of the younger Kim.
‘NEO-NAZIS’: A minister described the rally as ‘spreading hate’ and ‘dividing our communities,’ adding that it had been organized and promoted by far-right groups Thousands of Australians joined anti-immigration rallies across the country yesterday that the center-left government condemned, saying they sought to spread hate and were linked to neo-Nazis. “March for Australia” rallies against immigration were held in Sydney, and other state capitals and regional centers, according to the group’s Web site. “Mass migration has torn at the bonds that held our communities together,” the Web site said. The group posted on X on Saturday that the rallies aimed to do “what the mainstream politicians never have the courage to do: demand an end to mass immigration.” The group also said it was concerned about culture,
CRACKDOWN: The Indonesian president vowed to clamp down on ‘treason and terrorism,’ while acceding to some protest demands to revoke lawmaker benefits Protests in Indonesia over rising living costs and inequality intensified overnight, prompting Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to cancel a planned trip to China, while demonstrators reportedly targeted the homes of the finance minister and several lawmakers. Rioters entered Indonesian Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati’s residence near Jakarta early yesterday, but were repelled by armed forces personnel, Kompas reported. Items were taken from the homes of lawmaker Ahmad Sahroni and two others, according to Detik.com. The reports of looting could not be independently verified, and the finance ministry has not responded to requests for comment. The protests were sparked by outrage over
VENEZUELAN ACTION: Marco Rubio said that previous US interdiction efforts have not stemmed the flow of illicit drugs into the US and that ‘blowing them up’ would US President Donald Trump on Wednesday justified a lethal military strike that his administration said was carried out a day earlier against a Venezuelan gang as a necessary effort by the US to send a message to Latin American cartels. Asked why the military did not instead interdict the vessel and capture those on board, Trump said that the operation would cause drug smugglers to think twice about trying to move drugs into the US. “There was massive amounts of drugs coming into our country to kill a lot of people and everybody fully understands that,” Trump said while hosting Polish President
A French couple kept Louise, a playful black panther, in an apartment in northern France, triggering panic when she was spotted roaming nearby rooftops. The pair were were handed suspended jail sentences on Thursday for illegally keeping a wild animal, despite protesting that they saw Louise as their baby. The ruling follows a September 2019 incident when the months-old feline was seen roaming a rooftop in Armentieres after slipping out of the couple’s window. Authorities captured the panther by sedating her with anesthetic darts after she entered a home. No injuries were reported during the animal’s time on the loose. The court in the
RSS