Demagogue

I recently finished a book on the Kim dynasty in North Korea called "Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader." When it comes to war and government-sponsored deception, the Kims have been pros; next to these guys, Bush is merely an amateur.

The author, Bradley K. Martin, notes that during the Korean War, the regime of Kim Il-sung circulated stories of soldierly martyrdom among the public. Martin translated one of the martyr stories told by the regime:

Hero Kang Ho-yung was seriously wounded in both arms and both legs in the Kamak Hill battle, so he rolled into the midst of the enemy with a hand grenade in his mouth and wiped them out, shouting:

"My arms and legs were broken. But on the contrary my retaliatory spirit against you scoundrels became a thousand times stronger. I will show the unbending fighting will of a member of the Workers' Party of Korea and unflinching will firmly pledged to the Party and the Leader!"

Then, we are supposed to believe, Kang Ho-yung blew himself up in order to kill many enemy soldiers. Of course, this story begs several questions:

1. How could North Korean officials possibly know exactly what the supposedly Kang Ho-yung shouted since he didn't live to tell them this story?

2. How could Kang Ho-yung shout anything if he had a hand grenade in his mouth?

3. How could Kang Ho-yung run "into the midst" of enemy troops and have enough time to shout 48 words before one of those enemy troops shot him dead?

This grandiose lie from North Korea makes the Pat Tillman story look like nothing.