Is Li'l Kim Kaput?
It seems that pictures of Kim Jong-Il are being quietly removed all over Pyongyang. Captain Ed wonders if he hasn't gone on to the Happy Prison Camp.

Others wonder if the change means that something has happened to Kim and Pyongyang might be keeping it quiet. The removals aren't happenstance; an unnamed diplomat told the Russian news service Itar-Tass that orders had been given to take the portraits down.

The Soviets used to keep their transitions secret until the last moment, usually attributing a premier's absence from official duties to a cold. When the Soviets lost a few premiers within a couple of years in the 1980s, people joked that the Russian cold was apparently fatal. This unusual activity in Pyongyang looks suspiciously like the Russian cold has migrated to the Korean Peninsula.

Interesting. On the other hand, some people seem to believe that Kim Jong-Il has suddenly developed a sense of modesty. That doesn't really jibe with the North Korean embassy in Moscow, though, who deny any pictures are being removed at all:

"This is false information, lies. Can the sun be removed from the sky? It is not possible."

Modest.

Update: Uh-Oh. Spotted in the NYT:

In Seoul, a government intelligence analyst reported that in recent days North Korea's state radio had shifted one catch phrase from "Kim Jong Il, ruling according to the Kim Il Sung legacy" to simply "Ruling by Kim Il Sung."

Sung has, of course, been dead for over 10 years. How does that work?

Update: Another thought... The Jongenator has apparently slipped into a deep blue over the death of his favorite consort (referred to in propaganda as "Omonim", or "respected mother"), who lost her life to cancer after Paris doctors (how about that) decided she could not be saved. You think his advisors finally decided to take charge themselves? Or is he just erasing his image to make room for his son?

Update:Via Cassandra Page, Power Line notes Japenese media is reporting that some dissent is going uncrushed. Very, very interesting.