State of Play: Kim Jong, Ill « The Washington Independent

After North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il was a conspicuous no-show at the country’s 60th anniversary celebration yesterday, speculation ran rampant that he was seriously ill. South Korea’s spy agency then confirmed that he had suffered a stroke, most likely several weeks ago, but that he was recovering and there was no power vacuum in the country. North Korean officials responded to the rumors by dismissing them as a “conspiracy plot” against their “Dear Leader” of fourteen years.

Disappointingly, obvious puns were largely absent from the headlines in the major news outlets. Even the wordplay-prone New York Post resorted to a prosaic, if a bit cryptic, title — Kim in Health Mystery. Here’s what the fourth estate had to say:

Kim Had Surgery After Stroke, South Koreans Say (The New York Times)

North Korean Leader’s Illness Not Critical, Official in Seoul Says (Washington Post)

N.Korea denies Kim Jong Il health ‘conspiracies’ (CNN.com)

Kim in Health Mystery (New York Post)

North Korea’s Kim Jong Il may be gravely ill (Los Angeles Times)

Pyongyang Faults Report that Kim is Seriously Ill (The Wall Street Journal)

South Korea says North Korea’s leader believed to be recovering from stroke (Chicago Tribune)