Happy Birthday Dear Leader!

Tens of thousands of flowers have been assembled in North Korea to celebrate Kim Jong Il's birthday today. North Korea says he is 68, overseas experts claim he's 69 and that the NK government has fiddled the figures so that his "70th" birthday in 2012 will coincide with the 100th anniversary of his father's birth. Both he and his father have used flowers as symbols of their leadership. His father, Kim Il Sung, received a hybrid orchid from the Indonesian President Sukarno in 1965 and he named it "Kimilsungia". Kim Jong Il was given a begonia in 1988 which, of course, he named "Kimjongilia". There was consternation earlier this year when a Japanese botanist called Mototeru Kamo sent Kim Jong Il's youngest son, Kim Jong Un a new breed of begonia on his birthday on 8 January. Did this signify that a handover is being prepared? As yet there has been no announcement that this flower has been named "Kimjongunia".