To honour the 104th birth anniversary of the late North Korean leader Kim II Sung on Friday, North Korea's state newspaper Rodong Sinmun claimed that world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham called Kim as "the world's God."
Graham was allegedly very impressed by Kim's strong leadership skills because of his ability to address homelessness and drug addiction in North Korea.
"Having observed the Supreme Leader Kim Il Sung's unique political leadership, I can only think that he is God," Graham was quoted as saying. "If God is the leader of another world, saviour and ruler of the past and future life that exists in our imagination, I acknowledge the Supreme Leader Kim Il Sung is the God who rules today's human world."
The publication also claimed that Graham understood why North Koreans did not allow him to preach the Gospel during his visits in 1992 and 1994. "Kim is this world's God. Why would a country like this need the Holy Bible?" Graham allegedly said.
However, when representatives of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) got wind of the claims, they were shocked.
"While Billy Graham made two trips to North Korea and knew the elder president Kim Il Sung, Mr. Graham has not said anything like this," Jeremy Blume, a spokesman for Graham, told The Washington Post. "These words do not even remotely resemble Mr. Graham's theology or his language."
Graham might not have called Kim a god, but he did have nice things to say about the Asian leader. "In person, I found President Kim to be a forceful and charismatic leader, and I could understand why he was held in such high esteem by his fellow citizens," Graham said after Kim passed away in 1994. "Although he met few Americans, he always expressed the hope for better relations with the United States."
