Washington Babylon — June 3, 2009, 12:53 pm
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So little is known about Kim Jong-un – the youngest son and reportedly the named successor of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il – that even his date of birth is uncertain: no-one is really sure whether he was born in 1983 or 1984.
But it is known that the third Kim, like his two elder brothers, was sent to school in Switzerland. The BBC’s Imogen Foulkes reports on the young Kim’s school days, and the unusually close relationship between Switzerland and North Korea. Kim Jong-un attended Berne’s international school, where, it is rumoured, he joined school skiing outings, and was something of a peacemaker in playground disputes…
North Korean agricultural specialists regularly spend time here studying the Swiss art of making cheese and yoghurt, which Kim Jong-il is said to love.
More from Ken Silverstein:
Commentary — July 25, 2012, 2:20 pm
Washington Babylon — September 29, 2010, 11:37 am
Years of consideration preceding the inclusion of the word “phat” in Random House’s 1996 Compact Unabridged Dictionary:
Scientists created crash helmets that stink when cracked and fruit flies to whom blue light smells delicious.
In Belize, a construction company bulldozed a 2,300-year-old Mayan temple to make road fill.
“This is the heart of the magic factory, the place where medicine is infused with the miracles of science, and I’ve come to see how it’s done.”
