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North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, seen here in August, was parodied as the "sexiest man alive" by spoof paper, The Onion.
BEIJING – Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice?
That’s the hard lesson being learned Tuesday by China’s ruling Communist Party newspaper, The People’s Daily, after it ran a version of a story by American satirical news site, The Onion, that named North Korean supreme dictator, Kim Jong Un, as the “Sexiest Man Alive for the year of 2012.”
The government newspaper didn’t just proclaim Kim the winner of the dubious honor. It positively reveled in it.
"With his devastatingly handsome, round face, his boyish charm, and his strong, sturdy frame, this Pyongyang-bred heartthrob is every woman's dream come true,” quoted the newspaper from The Onion. "Blessed with an air of power that masks an unmistakable cute, cuddly side, Kim made this newspaper's editorial board swoon with his impeccable fashion sense, chic short hairstyle, and, of course, that famous smile."
Pregnant? North Korea leader's wife reportedly returns to public eye after long silence
The Chinese paper’s three paragraph piece on its official website was followed by a 55-page photo gallery depicting Kim at his best – riding a horse, shown on the cover of Time Magazine, inspecting fruit and of course, being met with rapturous applause by his people.
North Korea’s official state media, KCNA, has not commented on its website about either article.
Elizabeth Dalziel / AP
From work to play, see pictures from inside the secretive country.
This wouldn't be the first time that Chinese state press has fallen for The Onion's satire, and it remains unclear whether editors at the People’s Daily knowingly posted the piece.
In 2002, the Beijing Evening News published another story from the prank website that claimed the United States Congress was threatening to leave Washington, D.C., and relocate to Charlotte, N.C., or Memphis, Tenn., if “its demands for a new, state-of-the-art facility are not met.”
In February of this year, U.S Congressman, Rep. John Fleming (R-La.), was left red-faced after he reposted an old Onion story that claimed Planned Parenthood was opening an "$8 billion abortionplex" in Topeka, Kansas.
Meanwhile, this past September in the lead-up to the U.S. elections, Iranian state media fell for another Onion gag that said most rural white Americans "would rather vote for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than U.S. President Barack Obama.”
David Guttenfelder / AP
In this March 9, 2011 photo, a girl plays the piano inside the Changgwang Elementary School in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
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Leave a Comment:
Wow . . . how the 'sting' of Nov 6th still permeates the right! LOL . . . just think, the 'first 4 years' hasn't yet ended. Glad you will be irritated for another 4+. LOL
Congrats to the Onion . . . recognition of the highest caliber! Keep it up! LOL
Shows there are more dumbazz's in other parts of the world than here. Don't anyone get too smug though, we are rapidly catching up.
Their Communist ideal of perfect man looks incredibly Western - just an American with black hair.
Everyone knows communists have no senses of irony or humor, just watch a few minutes of msnbc...
Maybe the Chinese paper was also being satirical!
I think it is hilarious that they fall for the Onion. I remember reading the Onion from when I was a kid. The Onion has been around a long time. 70's. I wonder how they feel when they learn they have been gullible?
A little embarrassment for sure.
But then again it may be just propaganda fuel for them. Saying to its populous "Hey Look! even Americans find him the sexiest man alive!"
After all, it is all propaganda news reporting. Here and there.
he he... dumbass!
Wait - the joke is on us! ALL OF US! Clearly he is the most handsome man alive. Now dont you all who are criticizing feel really dumb?
sexy! he looks like an oriental ronald mcdonald.
Yeah he got those Brad Pitt feature's.lol
Kim Jong Un looks like a pickle with a face.
I remember being in a bar and reading the onion for the first time. I was read a headline about how New Orleans declared they would abolish all laws within 10 years. I was shocked and wondered if that was legally possible. But the more I read the more I realized it was a joke paper. Love the onion.
Maybe, just maybe the Chinese got the joke and responded deadpan serious.
Now we (myself included) are taking their response seriously and we have been diverted from real news.
The Onion was funny. Is the Chinese response also funny, going along with the joke, or is it devious?
The Onion is so good. Feel like biting into one like "Willie the caretaker".
I am laughing just thimking about how funny the "Onion" is.
Really China, you believe that American women would be more into a short, creepy dictator over someone like Channing Tatum. REALLY! Please! Norman from Seinfeld is more attractive!
Neuman -Fail
Funnier than owl $#!t.
The Onion hands China a raspberry. Now that’s
funny! :-))
He's ugly an' his momma dresses him funny.
This is what happens when you live in a closed, paranoid society; no one has, nor recognizes, a sense of humor.
These countries are not fooled into publishing these articles, quite the contrary. These papers know that no matter how hard they try they cannot write like westerners. Once in a while when a gem like this comes out, even though WE know its a joke, and so do their papers, they publish it anyways because when its read by their people they think is real based on the fact that it is written by a westerner and published by a westerner. Same with the Iranian spoof article about white voters, to them its pure gold propaganda provided by the American people free of charge. It's brilliant really, Goebbels would be proud.
Hi John,
Sorry to throw a wet blanket onto all of this fraternal "We are all Americans and we are better than "them""
chest thumping. It is kind of fun, and after the campaign, a nice change. Well that is if your not Chinese or Korean or Asian "Oriental", period since a lot of todays posters don't seem to be able to distinguish, say, Turkey from Indonesia.
But to my point, the Onion didn't write the article to poke fun at some Chinese newspaper; It was poking fun at our fellow Americans, who at the time were expressing such irrational hate for then candidate Obama, that The Onion felt compelled to satirized us!
We hate each other so much, that we would rather elect one of our country's sworn enemies! Get it?
Doesn't really matter, I guess. Chest thumping is way more fun than self reflection anyway.
Yay for us! Except him... and anybody else that looks different or has a funny accent or name.
I think the Chinese newspaper mistake is hilarious. I think the Tea Party Folks who don't realize that
they were (in my opinion) the intended "butt" of the joke, are kind of sad.
Oops,
Sorry John,
I got stuck off on my own tangent. Another post mentioned an onion article were Rightwing Americans supposedly preferred the leader of Iran to then candidate Obama.
I don't get the whole "westerner superiority" thing. You make your points kind of hard to take seriously,
because, well, your remarks are well,
racist.
Just sayin'
Maninjapan78,
You are an idiot. My comments are not racist. You took them completely out of context. Asian people unless raised in America have absolutely no understanding of English grammar, punctuation, humor, pop culture references, et cetera. Any attempt by an Asian to write in English shows this pitiful lack of understanding. Anyone who has had to read assembly instructions provided by an Asian company can attest to that fact. I do not subscribe to any philosophy of "Western Superiority", the only racist is you stereotyping all Americans. In addition your failure to understand my post only proves my point.
HI John,
I never said that you were racist. Just that your post sounded, well, "racist". and, um, by the way, your last post was racist.
Take a look at my Pen name. You have no idea of who I am, or what I look like or who I live and work with. But I have a pretty good idea on your background, so does anyone else who reads what you write. If you can't see why what you have written sounds racist, well that's OK, but I think most folks will agree with me, but perhaps write the word in capitol letters.
By the way, calling names is really sad.
I love it when Gov'ts are taken in by fake news stories and are pranked by telephone calls by people who claim to be somebody else. It shows that despite $$$$ spent and all the security and all the information available by internet Gov'ts are fallible.
Chinese fish wrap. But that they can't write like Westerners shot? Do you discount Lao Tzu, Confucius, Ming Toy Ginsberg? Okay, I threw Ming Toy in there because I was trained as a newspaper writer and all references come in threes.
Hans Prix, if I'm the sexiest man arive, why am I so...ronery?
Winner!
Team America F*** Yeah!
How long until the editorial staff of The Onion is found dead from injections of radioactive material?