Kim Il Sung had a special surprise for Mintoff and AST when they visited him in North Korea

Published: December 20, 2011 at 2:22pm

Imagine if Kim Jong-Il, scion of Kim Il Sung of North Korea, had died before or during AST’s interview on Radio Malta, making him a news topic which Chris Scicluna, the interviewer, might have felt compelled to ask about.

What would AST have done? Catch him in this 1970s video, visiting Kim Il Sung, on a much-vaunted trip to North Korea.

And just look at the special show Kim Il Sung put on for his friend. It’s hard, I know, but do your best to understand that this video is real and that it is not a spoof.

A North Korean troupe singing ‘Ma Taghmlu Xejn Mal-Perit Mintoff’, with synchronised dance moves – what a shame that I’ve only got such a brief clip.




23 Comments Comment

  1. ciccio2011 says:

    2011 has been an annus horribilis for AST and Mintoff.

    It’s not only Labour’s economic policy that needs to be re-written, but their foreign policy too.

  2. Dee says:

    Wara Ceaucescu, Kim il Sung, Gaddafi u Kim Jong Il. min imissu?

    Castro jew Mintoff?

  3. edgar says:

    What Karmenu Vella and AST call the golden years. 18 seconds of cringe material. Joseph Muscat must be kicking himself for allowing AST back to his party.

    • Grezz says:

      Do you think he’d really notice the liability that he is? Do bear in mind that Mintoff is his hero. With a hero like that …

  4. A.B says:

    Like him or not, enjoy with his antics or abhor them, Mintoff was a statesman.

  5. A.B says:

    Like him or not, enjoy his antics or abhor them, Mintoff was a statesman

  6. anthony says:

    Mintoff put a once proud nation to shame.

    No wonder not one of the seven princes wants to have anything to do with him.

  7. GiovDeMartino says:

    My wife is sitting next to me…I would choose Joe Grima.

  8. Matthew says:

    I recommend this film to people who want to understand better the horrors of living under the Kim dynasty, Mintoff’s friends.

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1180311/

  9. dery says:

    I once heard Kenneth Wain recount a story (probably apocryphal) of an acquaintance of his who had visited North Korea. He was shown a huge map of the world with North Korea at the centre.

    Red arrows starting from North Korea spread to all countries on Earth and he was told that this symbolised how N. Korean culture influenced the whole world.

    The tale goes on to say that this man asked “And where are all the arrows that point towards North Korea?”

    Meanwhile if you can get hold of a documentary which documents the exploits of a team of eye surgeons who were allowed into North Korea to perform cataract operations on thousands of North Koreans who did not have even basic medical care you’d be surprised at the way their ‘beloved’ leader is venerated.

    I cannot decide whether it is all pretence or whether they actually love him in that way.

    [Daphne – Why should you conclude it’s all pretence, when you know that Mintoff is the Salvatur to tens of thousands of Maltese who he despised and held in contempt as idiots and his intellectual inferiors?]

  10. Grezz says:

    Has anyone forgotten the throngs of Koreans in blue uniforms, who seemed to be permanent residents at Tigne Barracks (that’s The Point to the plebs) under Mintoff?

  11. J Abela says:

    Oh please do get us the long version of this video. It’s hilarious.

    [Daphne – I’ve tried, to no avail.]

  12. Claude Sciberras says:

    I had never seen this clip before, prosit, it truly is a pity you don’t have a longer clip.

    The first thing that struck me is how well the Koreans were singing in Maltese.

    Then I started thinking but who the hell would actually do that. It’s either the Koreans had someone in Malta who heard this song in some meeting and said ah this must be a song to the leader so let’s sing it when he comes to Malta.

    Or else they must have contacted someone from the MLP and he or she told them to sing this song.

    Whatever the case you see how these people think and act and you realise that once our prime minister was part of the inner circle with these dictators. When you compare this with our current prime minister and his predecessor you realise how lucky we are.

  13. John H says:

    When I heard of Kim’s death, I couldn’t get this song, of sorts, out of my head.

    You’ve turned me into a horrible person with this blog – humming such atrocities, albeit quietly

  14. Jozef says:

    If Labour want to make good money, they should consider selling their vintage paraphernalia on the web.

    At the moment Chinese cultural revolution material is the rage, a figurine of a seated red guard fetching over 12,000 dollars at Sotheby’s last year.

    Imagine what one MLP glazed pottery ashtray, or the laminate faux wood wall lining from Mintoff’s personal office at the palace could be worth. .

    The real earners would be North Korean manufactured gas masks and riot gear.

  15. Ivan F. Attard says:

    Youtube account closed …..

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