China paper backpedals after falling for Kim "Sexiest Man Alive" spoof
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This undated picture, released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on November 20, 2012 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un riding a horse as he inspects the training ground of a horse riding company under the Korean People's Army (KPA) Unit 534 at undisclosed place in North Korea. -- PHOTO: AFP
BEIJING (AFP) - The Chinese Communist Party's official mouthpiece on Wednesday deleted a story that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had been named 2012's "Sexiest Man Alive", after it fell for a spoof by US website The Onion.
The People's Daily had run the US satirical site's gushing quotes about the "Pyongyang-bred heartthrob" in both Chinese and English as world news, along with a 55-image gallery opening with Kim astride a horse and gazing into the distance.
But after gleeful Internet users pointed out the error, the English version's web address returned a "page not found" message late Wednesday morning.
A link to the story remained on the website's Korean news pages but there was no content.
