Did Clinton Meet With a Faux Kim?

Every megalomaniac who fears assassination has them: Saddam and his son Uday, Hitler, Stalin, Hoxha, Noriega, Amin. Yet even in today's digital age, it's hard to tell who's who when the leader is as reclusive as Kim Jong-Il, in such a closed-off society as North Korea. But would Kim have a body double so good as to trick the onetime leader of the free world? The Christian Science Monitor delves into the real Kim today:

"A number of analysts here are convinced that not all the photos being released of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il, are really photos of Kim Jong-il.

Instead, they say, a look-alike has been standing in for him on some of the 122 trips he's reportedly made this year to the countryside, factories, cultural events, military units, and all sorts of other venues.

Some observers say the North Korean leader is too ill to make all these appearances. One Japanese analyst claims President Clinton didn't meet with Kim Jong-il in August - he met with a Mr. Kim double.

The evidence of Kim stand-ins is far from verified, but several North Korean refugees here say that Kim has not one but several look-alikes playing his role."

More on the claims of the Japanese professor at The Independent.