North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un salutes as he watches a military parade to mark 100 years since the birth of the country’s founder and his grandfather, Kim Il-Sung, in Pyongyang on April 15, 2012. The commemorations came just two days after a satellite launch timed to mark the centenary fizzled out embarrassingly when the rocket apparently exploded within minutes of blastoff and plunged into the sea. AFP PHOTO / Ed Jones (Photo credit should read Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images)
Photo: ED JONES/2012 AFP
John Sparks, an Asia correspondent for British broadcaster Channel 4, attended North Korea’s celebration of the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean war (which President Obama also honored earlier today, though in a slightly more subdued fashion), where he got this close to the country’s dictator, Kim Jong-un. So, like a good journalist, Sparks tried to get him to answer a question: “What message are you trying to send to the West?” he shouted at the Supreme Leader who, unsurprisingly, did not respond. Still, Channel 4 is now claiming to be “the first news organisation” to get a word in with Kim. And, while that might technically be true, it sure looks like even less than nothing when compared to Dennis Rodman’s access.
