One thing I do understand about China - they hate to lose face. Some heads are rolling at the People's Daily for sure.
Follow the link below for the 55 (!!!) pic photo spread.Kim Jong-Un Named The Onion's Sexiest Man Alive For 2012 [UPDATE]
November 14, 2012 | ISSUE 48•46
The Onion is proud to announce that North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un, 29, has officially been named the newspaper’s Sexiest Man Alive for the year 2012.
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. 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.
“He has that rare ability to somehow be completely adorable and completely macho at the same time,” Onion Style and Entertainment editor Marissa Blake-Zweibel said. “And that’s the quality that makes him the sort of man women want, and men want to be. He’s a real hunk with real intensity who also knows how to cut loose and let his hair down.”
Added Blake-Zweibel, “Ri Sol-ju is one lucky lady, that’s for sure!”
With today’s announcement, Kim joins the ranks of The Onion’s prior “Sexiest Man Alive” winners, including:
2011: Bashar al-Assad
2010: Bernie Madoff
2009: Charles and David Koch (co-winners)
2008: Ted Kaczynski
2007: T. Herman Zweibel
The Onion’s commemorative “Sexiest Man Alive” issue will be available on newsstands everywhere this Friday and contains a full 16-page spread on Kim.
UPDATE: For more coverage on The Onion's Sexiest Man Alive 2012, Kim Jong-Un, please visit our friends at the People's Daily in China, a proud Communist subsidiary of The Onion, Inc. Exemplary reportage, comrades.
North Korea's top leader named The Onion's Sexiest Man Alive for 2012
(People's Daily Online) 09:25, November 27, 2012
中文:金正恩被美网站评为最性感男人 集可爱霸气于一身
Edited and translated by Zhang Qian, People's Daily Online
U.S. website The Onion has named North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un as the "Sexiest Man Alive for the year 2012".
"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. 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," it said.
"He has that rare ability to somehow be completely adorable and completely macho at the same time," said Marissa Blake-Zweiber, editor of The Onion Style and Entertainment.Posted at 10:44 AM ET, 11/27/2012
Kim Jong Eun as ‘sexiest man alive’? Chinese news site falls for an Onion story on the supreme leader
By Emily Heil
Move over Ryan Gosling — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accompanied by his wife, Ri Sol Ju, might be competition. (AP)
Looks like sarcasm is easily last in translation — or easily ignored. The People’s Daily, the online version of the Communist Party of China’s official organ, lauded a story from the satirical news site that named North Korean dictator Kim Jun Un 2012’s “Sexiest Man Alive.”
Not realizing that the Onion was being cheeky — or perhaps simply not caring — the People’s Daily ran a 55-page photo spread to accompany the story, which it quoted thusly: “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.”
No doubt the women of Beijing are swooning. After all, if you squint really, really hard, you might see a slight resemblance to George Clooney — in that they are both sentient humans.
It’s not the first time a foreign news outlet has fallen for an Onion spoof. An Iranian news agency last month reprinted an Onion news story about a poll that found most Americans would rather vote for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than President Obama. The news site later apologized for getting duped — but insisted that Ahmadinejad could beat Obama in a popularity contest.