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WikiLeaks: Lee Kuan Yew called North Koreans “psychopathic”
December 1st, 2010 | Author: Editorial
Not new to controversies, PAP strongman Lee Kuan Yew appeared to have offended nuclear-armed North Korea in an unusually frank “advice” dispensed to a visiting U.S. diplomat last year.
According to a US diplomatic cable released by global whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks, Lee reportedly called North Koreans “psychopathic” and its paramount leader Kim Jong-Il a “flabby old chap” during a conversation with US deputy secretary of state James Steinberg.
“They are psychopathic types, with a ‘flabby old chap’ for a leader who prances around stadiums seeking adulation,” Lee said.
His stunning remarks made international headlines in major papers like Agence France-Presse and Wall Street Journal.
Lee also told Steinberg that China “would prefer a nuclear-armed North Korea than a North Korea that has collapsed because it sees the country as a buffer state.”
It is not known if Lee’s statements will have any impact on bilateral relationships between Singapore and North Korea since he is still a full-fledge minister in the Singapore cabinet and therefore his words cannot be dismissed as simply be made in his personal capacity.
North Korea hit the headlines lately by firing artillery shells on South Korea’s Yeongpyong island, killing two marines and four civilians, raising tensions on the Korean peninsula.
There were no immediate comments from the octagenarian Lee while his “mentee” ministers scramble to limit the fallout from his yet another embarrassing faux paus.
.
Jamison
December 1st, 2010 | Author: Editorial
Not new to controversies, PAP strongman Lee Kuan Yew appeared to have offended nuclear-armed North Korea in an unusually frank “advice” dispensed to a visiting U.S. diplomat last year.
According to a US diplomatic cable released by global whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks, Lee reportedly called North Koreans “psychopathic” and its paramount leader Kim Jong-Il a “flabby old chap” during a conversation with US deputy secretary of state James Steinberg.
“They are psychopathic types, with a ‘flabby old chap’ for a leader who prances around stadiums seeking adulation,” Lee said.
His stunning remarks made international headlines in major papers like Agence France-Presse and Wall Street Journal.
Lee also told Steinberg that China “would prefer a nuclear-armed North Korea than a North Korea that has collapsed because it sees the country as a buffer state.”
It is not known if Lee’s statements will have any impact on bilateral relationships between Singapore and North Korea since he is still a full-fledge minister in the Singapore cabinet and therefore his words cannot be dismissed as simply be made in his personal capacity.
North Korea hit the headlines lately by firing artillery shells on South Korea’s Yeongpyong island, killing two marines and four civilians, raising tensions on the Korean peninsula.
There were no immediate comments from the octagenarian Lee while his “mentee” ministers scramble to limit the fallout from his yet another embarrassing faux paus.
.
Jamison
