People's Daily, a Chinese newspaper with a daily circulation of 3-4 million, congratulated North Korea’s Kim Jong-un Tuesday after he won “Sexiest Man Alive.” Here’s the thing, though: the award was given out by The Onion.
It goes to show that words often translate easier than their implications.
The government-owned outlet
ran a story Tuesday morning titled “North Korea's top leader named The Onion's Sexiest Man Alive for 2012,” and whoever wrote the piece accidentally treated the satirical website’s content as serious, citing
The Onion’s description of Kim as a “devastatingly handsome” man with a “boyish charm [and] cuddly side.”
The congratulatory article is coupled with a 55-image showcase of Kim riding on a white horse, getting his hands eaten by a woman in green, and smiling excessively at an over-dressed child.
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Past recipients of the award include Bernie Madoff and Ted Kaczynski.
It is unclear if People’s Daily mistook The Onion for a hard news website or if the two publications are now competing to publish the Internet’s most outlandish material.
UPDATE: People's Daily has taken down the article. In its place is a message to readers (as translated by Google Translate): "You want to view the page does not exist, five seconds will automatically jump to the People's Network Home."
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