North Korea: A Japanese magician at the funeral of Kim

Seoul - The North Korean regime has confirmed today by the KCNA (state news agency) that no foreign delegation will be allowed at the funeral of Kim Jong-il. Instead, it appears that there will be some foreign "individuals", linked to the memory of the late dictator: among these "Princess Tenko", a Japanese magician who entertained the "dear leader" with her tricks no less than two birthdays in a row and was flown on a private jet to Pyongyang several times.

The confirmation of the invitation came from the lady in question: "I was invited by phone and e-mail by a member of the family of Kim. I was asked to dress in white [the color of mourning for Asians ed]. " The prestigious 51 year old has performed her show at the official invitation of the regime in 1998 and 2000, she also participated in a dozen "private" meetings in the residence of Kim Jong-il. The woman, also famous in the Land of the Rising Sun, claims to predict the future and propitiate positive events.

Tenko tells of the absurd excesses ordered by the dictator in her honor. In a country with half the population below the poverty line, for example, "Kim Jong-il asked me to perform the famous Houdini trick, to escape from a tank filled with water, in which I am bound by chains. To do it he took a tank and filled it with Evian water: the Korean water, he said, was not as clean as the Japanese and would have damaged my skin. "

The last meeting, she continues, "was in 2009, for a dinner. The dictator drank several glasses of whiskey and then participate in a horse race, which worsened the effects of his stroke last year. " For her participation in these exhibitions, Tenko received several gifts: among them a life-size portrait of the woman decorated with diamonds, rubies and other jewels. In 2001, the year of this gift was sent, a terrible famine killed an estimated 400 thousand North Koreans.