Daily NK: Fire destroys Kim Jong Il’s fake birthplace (updated)

Update, September 2015: Subsequent reporting by NK News calls the Daily NK‘s report into question.

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This report has been circulating in Korean-language sources for a few days, and the Donga Ilbo has reported that a large fire was burning (and had been extinguished) in that area, but this is the first time I’ve seen it reported in English.

A raging wildfire that broke out on October 21st in North Korea’s Samjiyon County, Yangkang Province is said to have burned down former leader Kim Jong Il’s home on Mount Baekdu near Milyong, the alleged birthplace of the late leader, the Daily NK has learned.

“The fire in Samjiyon County has spread to Baekam County putting the country in a state of emergency,” a source in Yangkang Province told the Daily NK on Tuesday. “The Baekdu Milyong home and most of the historic revolutionary landmarks have gone up in flames.” [Daily NK]

Here’s a photo of the alleged birthplace. AP reporters Eric Talmadge and David Guttenfelder where there as recently as June. So far, there have been no references to the story in official North Korean media. If the report isn’t true, we should expect to see a denial soon.

Of course, Kim Jong Il was actually born in Khabarovsk, but no matter. According to the Daily NK‘s sources, multiple security agencies are already surging into the area to “investigate” the cause of the fire. I wonder how many real people are going to punished as scapegoats, for the sake of fake history.