We didn't talk much about North Korea during class, but they've made an international headline.
According to Reuters, Kim Jong-il appeared in public on New Year's Day to inspect a military tank division and wish Happy New Year to the division's soldiers. This appears to be his first public appearance on which people outside of North Korea agree since his absence from a military parade last September that marked the 60th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean state by his father, Kim Il-sung. Speculation about his absence from the parade says that he suffered a stroke, but no one seems to know for sure.
Many other domestic and international events have prevented Kim Jong-il and North Korea from dominating news headlines in recent months. Since he seems to have been successful at commandeering international attention in the past, if he is back in action, stay tuned for some sort of crisis-of-the-moment that might compete with fighting in the Gaza strip and events in other international hot spots.
.
