My money's on Kim being real and the rest fake.

Phil, Dawlish, England

If you also look along the back, on the white step behind the them there is a black line running right along in the middle of the white step, except behind Kim Jong II. If you look at the soldiers to the left and right of Kim Jong you see the black line, but then it just disappears where he is.

Darren, Warrington, UK

Not only is his shadow different, look at the gray materieal behind him... missing something? ^^,

Erik, karlstad, sweden

Well, maybe it's all part of the North Korean propaganda machine to prove that Kim possesses magical powers.

Nick, Sale, England

The grey edge they stand in front of seems to be not completely straight. The pants of the other officers are not straight either, whereas Kim's are. This can easily lead to different shade shapes.

Jan, Amsterdam,

I've just downloaded image number 2 and spent 5 minutes changing it. With my version your arguments for digital adjustment are negated. Both the angled shadow and line are now there and look convincing.
If they were trying to cheat, the North Koreans could easily have done a more convincing job

Mike Goodger, Sittingbourne, UK

Anybody ever see Weekend at Bernie's?

David, London, UK

Reminds me of a film with Robert Redford where he made a photo of a dead man. Early eighties?

Gaute, Oslo, Norway

It only goes to show that Kim Jong Il is so evil, he actually bends light.

John, New York,

If you do a general search of his images you'll find other ones which show the stand more clearly. On other ones you can see there's something jutting out from the stand which doesn't have a line on it and is nearer to the subject and so changing the angle of shadow. Maybe it's just an old one?

Mark, Southampton, UK

I did a search for "kim jong il fake picture" in google, then clicked pictures, and came upon a version of this pic in which the shadows are all much more subtle, and the line is back behind his legs.

DC, Port of Spain, Trinidad

Wasn't this photo out a long time ago? Something very similar at least, including the jacket.

Nigel Tufnel, Squatney, UK

Wouldn't a double be so much more effective? Wasn't Sadaam supposed to have half a dozen of them?

Brent, Tempe, AZ, USA

people will always believe what they want to believe. is this by any chance the same intellgience community that told us about saddams weapons mass destruction? hmm, the ones that have never been found?

liam, aberdeen, scotland

Its not the legs that give it away, look at the shadows of the hats cast by the soldiers either side. The soldier to the left 'should' be wearing a peaked hat if his shadow was correct. Also not just the angle but the depth of the shadows shows that he would be standing back from the other soldiers.

Paul, Harlwo, UK

I think most of you are giving the North Koreans too much credit. They can't even keep the electricity going over there! Now they're supposedly going to use some of this valuable resource on photoshopping in the dear leader? I would have to see a picture of the bleachers empty to make any judgement.

Eric, Colorado, USA

First of all, I copied the photo, then expanded it, and found theses items 1. Right body guard. Noticed spackling (where the photos do not match. Look at the leg. Cement matrix is patterned except by the leaders legs then it suddenly goes vertical.3 right foot toe, shadow coming toward the camera

snake, panama, panama

from my earlier post. But most of all when the photo is blown up, on the right side of the leader in the concrete, someone has put a sublimation in. It is a male penis with gonads. also a thin woman with breasts. I do this for a living and use tech you probably do not have but still can see.

snake, panama, panama

What's with the two guys on either side of Kim? They each have totally wrinkly uniforms, whereas the rest of the soldiers' are neatly pressed? It's like they both pulled their uniforms from the same pile of unfolded, un-ironed laundry!

Beau, Boise, USA

Not only that, but also lookin' mighty sharp in his LL Bean jacket.

Doug, Chicago, USA

Not that it matters, when he is gone there are plenty of others just like him to take his place. What's the difference?

David, Atlanta, USA

I agree that the shadow may not explain the difference, but the absence of the line from behind Kim definitely shows that it is a digitally altered photo... a BAD one at that. Maybe they should start outsourcing their digital fakes. :-)

Dallas MacDonald, Fresno, CA, US of A

duh. if he were healthy and well they'd just have him walk out and do a press conference with at least some foreign observers, not release a single suspicious picture.

the circumstances alone prove he's not well. the fact that they think we'll buy this only proves Communism breeds stupidity.

JGD, New Jersey, USA

Not a bad try, but apart from the angle of the shadow which is certainly wrong - look at the edge of the platform which appears as a slight arc just behind him, but straight elsewhere. The front of the platform behind him is also noticably whiter as well !

Mike, Crowborough,

That and his legs are clearly off-center to his body!

don, la, us

The picture's genuine! Note the angle of his right leg compared to the soldiers standing either side of him. It is straighter, accounting for the difference in the angle of the respective shadows. Compare also Kim's leg with the soldier standing two places to his left. Similar pose and shadows.

Bob Cleland, Fountain Valley, USA

It's not just because his trousers are different?

Nat, London,

Maybe he is standing a few inches further away from the stand and leaning a little to his left..

P. Smith, London, England

I really think he was never the one and only ruler in that strange country. Some of those generals around him must be in control over him.

Alex Coman, Medgidia, Romania

The man to his left. Look at the shadow of his hat. It looks like the shadow of the man two places to Kim Jong's right, yet they are different hats.

Mark, Auckland, New Zealand

Remember "Dubcek's left foot"? He had been photographed on a visit to Moscow before he was forced out of office and the Soviets revised the official history to airbrush him out. However they forgot to count the legs of the group leaving just the "extra" foot where Dubcek stood in the group

Keith, Lismore,

Have you noticed the line missing in the step that is not behind the dictator but is behind the soldiers? Surely another mistake?

Jeremy Wood, Loughborough, uk

not only is the angle different but if you look closely, there is no edge running behind him, but there is behind everyone else. FAIL!

t, Collingswood,