# Could Kim Jong-il just be a body double? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 8, 2008, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-kim-jong-il-just-be-a-body-double/462650 "2008-09-08T18:28:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-kim-jong-il-just-be-a-body-double/462650/21 "2008-09-10T04:00:38Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Ah ha! But then, with all the recent talk about body doubles, they may not have allowed a body double to appear, knowing that people would take that as proof of no body doubles. Sure, but a body double would have to be more for the benefit of the North Korean people than for internationals, who don’t really give a damn about Kim either way. And your theory is headed toward CT-range; it’s a bit over the top, even for North Korea. (And if that’s what they were trying to do, their timing clearly was off – it appeared from the article that the reports of a stroke were more than speculation.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-kim-jong-il-just-be-a-body-double/462650/22 "2008-09-10T04:01:38Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > **Bear Nenno** Where is that bit from? I can’t place it. _Team America: World Police_. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-kim-jong-il-just-be-a-body-double/462650/23 "2008-09-10T04:06:00Z")
> [@straight\_man](#): > > Sure, but a body double would have to be more for the benefit of the North Korean people than for internationals, who don’t really give a damn about Kim either way. And your theory is headed toward CT-range; it’s a bit over the top, even for North Korea. (And if that’s what they were trying to do, their timing clearly was off – it appeared from the article that the reports of a stroke were more than speculation.) I accuse you, sir, of being a North Korean disinformation agent. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-kim-jong-il-just-be-a-body-double/462650/24 "2008-09-10T04:26:06Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I accuse you, sir, of being a North Korean disinformation agent. Oh my. Now it’s time to go participate in some political GD threads. Tee hee hee. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-kim-jong-il-just-be-a-body-double/462650/25 "2008-09-10T04:32:43Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > _Team America: World Police_. Better go back and look at that again **Johnny**. [Quote=Bear \_Nenno] He took me to his palace and he told me his secret. ‘I am not Kim Jong Il’ he said. 'My name is Lee; I inherited the country from the previous Kim Jong Il, just as you will inherit it from me. The man I inherited it from is not the real Kim Jong Il either. His name was Park. The real Kim Jong Il has been dead 15 years and hidden in a temple in Pyongyang. [/quote] This is a riff on the Dread Pirate Roberts speech from The Princess Bride ETA: **cmyk** posted the clip from TAWP ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-kim-jong-il-just-be-a-body-double/462650/26 "2008-09-10T11:31:35Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Ah ha! But then, with all the recent talk about body doubles, they may not have allowed a body double to appear, knowing that people would take that as proof of no body doubles. Nah, I have to agree with **straight man**. Whenever Kim dies, the world’s going to find out relatively fast. The only people who might not find out are the North Korean people because their media is so tightly controlled. And if there really was a Kim body double for the last five years, or any time in the future, the most likely reason would be the country’s unsettled succession - he’s never picked a successor, at least since disowning one of his sons for sneaking into EuroDisney or whatever that was about - and not convincing the outside world Kim was in control. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-kim-jong-il-just-be-a-body-double/462650/27 "2008-09-10T14:06:00Z")
I just finished that documentary **cmyk** linked to, and I was wondering about something. How did they manage to film without getting arrested? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-kim-jong-il-just-be-a-body-double/462650/28 "2008-09-10T15:08:17Z")
> [@DeadlyAccurate](#): > > I just finished that documentary **cmyk** linked to, and I was wondering about something. How did they manage to film without getting arrested? They didn’t really say, other than they only allowed him a simple video camera (and a still camera?). I think, to a certain extent, N. Korea wanted the tour to be documented, since they go through all that trouble of putting on pretenses that the country is enjoying prosperity. They want the ruse to get out, not the reality. They’re just stupid enough to think the rest of the world is buying it. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-kim-jong-il-just-be-a-body-double/462650/29 "2008-09-10T15:12:43Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > What do you get for the man who has everything? Penicillin? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-kim-jong-il-just-be-a-body-double/462650.md?page=1)